06.04.2009

Man survives fall

A man survived a 12 metre fall from an aerial lift yesterday after he was catapulted out of the platform by a falling tree limb.

The man, 45, was trimming a large gum tree at his house in North Tivoli, a suburb of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.

According to police reports he cut too large a section of the tree, reportedly lopping 20 metres off the top of it. The massive limb came crashing down on top of his house, but not before hitting the platform ejecting the man from the basket. He was not wearing a harness.
Please register to see all images

The scene after the accident

The man landed on a metal fence sustaining chest injuries and was taken to Ipswich Hospital in a stable condition.

The fall seriously damaged the house and brought down power lines the local authority workers were called out to remove the fallen tree.

Vertikal Comment

This episode demonstrates that in addition to using the right equipment the person carrying out the work needs to have some idea of what he is doing.

We do not know in this case what type of lift was used, it looks as though some form of boom is in the photo under the tree. One possible explanation is that the lift was too short, causing him to cut the tree at the point of full extension?

If so then this is a prime case of the need to select the right platform for the job.