08.02.2009

Fatal lift accident – no harnesses

One man died and another is critically ill after a boom lift went over in central Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday, neither man appears to be wearing a harness.

The lift, a Grove Manlift A125J self propelled articulated boom lift, was reportedly working around 100ft/30 metres in the air when it tipped over backwards.
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The wood used for levelling the lift can clearly be seen

The two men in the platform were identified as James Williamson and Greg Johnson, the two were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where Williamson died later from his injuries. Johnson was still listed in serious condition last night.

Williamson was hurled into the building while Johnson landed on a second floor roof. The 3.66 metre wide lift was set up in the street close to the building it was working on, with two wheels on the pavement/sidewalk and the other two sitting on two small stacks of softwood off cuts in order to level it.

The lift was working on the inspection of the roof of a Suffolk University dormitory. The University says that it had contracted Tremco, Williamson's employer, of Lakeville to inspect a number of its buildings and that Tremco had subcontracted the work to Reliable Roofing and Sheet Metal of Framingham, Massachusetts- Johnson's employer. Reliable had rented the lift Boston based Height 4 Hire.

Local reports say that OSHA fined Reliable Roofing $4,500 in March last year for failing to provide "guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems" for its employees working at a job site in Newburyport. The company was fined $1,800 for that incident.

Vertikal Comment

One never knows if in a particular accident the wearing of a harness with short lanyard would have saved lives. Looking at where the basket ended up in this case, it would seem that they might have been better off if they had. Although unlike most other tips one cannot be certain.

Local witnesses say that the lift looked very precarious perched on its two stacks of wood, and it seems the movement of the boom caused the wood to spit out from under the wheels, casing sufficient dynamic loading to tip the unit over backwards, catapulting the two men from the basket.