20.04.2010

Fatal crane accident

A man died on Monday at the Motiva Enterprises expansion project in Port Arthur, Texas after a crane's boom apparently came down while its was installing counterweights on a large crawler crane.

A Demag CC2800 owned by Deep South Crane & Rigging was working for Becon Construction, a subsidiary of Bechtel. When Stewart Shaver, 41, a rigger, was struck by the boom of a 100 ton RT crane after it buckled while lifting a carbody counterweight. He died at the scene from head injuries.

Federal investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are investigating and have six months to report on the cause of the accident. Meanwhile work at the site was suspended.

OSHA has accredited the Motiva refinery as a Voluntary Protection Program Star its highest operating safety designation. According to the United Steel workers Union there have been reports of four to five minor crane incidents at the site prior to this accident


Vertikal Comment

We have had unconfirmed reports that the crane operator had pinned the fly section of the RT boom and was telescoping the counterweight out when the boom buckled. We have been unable to obtain any photographs, so it is not possible to confirm the reports or shed more light on what happened.