18.06.2008

Tower crane erector hit

A 44-year-old tower crane erector died instantly on Tuesday after he was struck by a tower crane jib section.

Patrick St-Amand an employee of the crane company Grues JM Francoeur was dismantling the cranes jib on the 26th floor of a high rise building under construction at Nuns’ Island, Montreal when the six-metre long jib section swung upwards hitting him under the chin and trapping his head in the structure, and lifting him off his feet. His body was then left dangling around 100 metres above the ground.


Jean-Guy Bilodeau the operator of the mobile crane that was dismantling the tower crane, said that St-Amand, a husband and father of a three-year-old son, was on his knees taking out a pin in order to remove the jib section when it lifted suddenly.

Yvan Montpetit, a spokesman for the ambulance authority said: "There was nothing we could do. The man suffered serious head trauma and he was bleeding."
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The crane after the accident

The construction site is closed until the Workplace Health and Safety Board determines what caused it to move and strike the worker.