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Two mobile crane accidents leave five dead
Ft. Lauderdale, FL - A crane, 100-feet high, collapsed, and the driver suffered from serious injuries and was pulled from the cab. The accident, in the aftermath, was under investigation. The crane was completing some roof repairs at the time of the accident. This collapse marks the fifth crane accident in south Florida this year.
Kingwood, TX - A crane accident occurred when a large crane attempted to take down a sign and toppled over. No injuries were reported in the accident.
Woodstock, VA - A fatal crane accident occurred at a plant. Workers were removing a metal part from a crane, which fell to the ground. The metal part then hit a worker, who was taken to a nearby medical center and died. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry investigated the accident afterward.
Savannah, GA - At the ports, a fatal forklift accident occurred. A city spokesman said two forklifts were moving large amounts of tubular steel. When some steel rolled off one of the machines, it hit the man, who fell to the ground and was in the way of the other forklift. The driver stopped immediately to not hit the fallen man, but tubular steel fell off that forklift and crushed the man. OSHA came to the scene to investigate immediately following the accident.
Gainesville, FL - Crane workers were in the middle of removing trees from a family’s house when an accident occurred. The crane that the workers were using tipped over, which caused the boom of the crane to crash through a bedroom in the house. No one was home at the time, and none of the tree workers experienced injuries. The owner of the tree service said the ground beneath the crane gave way and caused the machinery to topple. The owner added the crane was being properly operated and was not overloaded at the time of the accident.
Green, OH - A fatal forklift accident occurred when a telescopic handler fell on a mason and killed him. He was working on a construction site at a hotel when his telehandlers overturned. The man jumped off the machine, according to officials, as the forklift was turning over, and he was pinned down. The sheriff’s office and OSHA are investigating the accident.
Pensacola, FL - A fatal forklift accident occurred when a construction worker was struck by the load on a forklift. He received a large impact to his head and neck and died. When a bucket of concrete suspended in the air by a forklift fell on the man, he was scaffolding. OSHA is investigating the accident.
Anaheim, CA - A construction worker died when he was hit by a telehandler. He was working as a part of a six-person crew on the stucco and an apartment construction site. The operator on a separate crew positioned and extended the bucket to the next floor, where workers were putting debris in the bucket. During the accident, the telehandler’s bucket attachment tipped forward and hit him while it was being loaded. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Cal-OSHA is investigating the accident.
Annapolis, MD - Six hundred workers were evacuated immediately at a construction site because of a gas leak; a worker was killed in a crane accident the previous week at the same site. According to fire officials, a worker accidentally hit a 2.5-inch line that was pressurized with 99 pounds of gas, leaving the gas to permeate throughout the building. The worker who died in the accident on April 30 was dismantling a crane that was 200 feet in the air.
North Bend, OR - A crane went down into a construction zone. However, no injuries occurred. The crane operator was able to get out before the crane tipped over completely. A small leak of hydraulic fluid from the crane caused the fire department to come to the location, where they helped manage the less than 20 gallons of fluid.
Huntington, WV - A man sustained injuries in an industrial accident. He was caught between a parked truck and forklift. According to emergency personnel, his injuries were not life threatening.
Tyler, TX - In a work lift accident, a worker was killed in a construction project. He was installing drywall on a scissor lift when crushed against a ceiling beam. The man died after being taken to the hospital.
Las Vegas, NV - A crane buckled and malfunctioned at a large work site, which was the latest in a series of accidents that have occurred at the same site. No one suffered injuries in this accident. Federal and state safety inspectors witnessed the accident. Responses include having these inspectors perform a comprehensive safety review.
Kansas City, MO - A crane collapsed at a construction site by a power plant. Three workers suffered injuries, and one worker was killed. After determining that wind speeds were too strong to complete a safe operation, the crane lowered its boom, which caused the accident to occur. The crane had no load at the occurrence of the accident. Determining the precise cause of the accident was left to investigators on-site.
Honolulu, HI - A construction worker was killed in a crane accident while working alongside his son. The man was about to pour cement from a concrete pumper truck. According to police, a gust of wind blew a canvas strap; the strap was attached to a crane closeby and caught onto the boom arm of the pumper. A police officer commented that the boom from concrete pumper came down, striking the crane operator, who was beneath the pumper, in the face. OSHA is investigating the accident.
Adair, IA - While operating a crane on Interstate 80, a construction worker was killed while working on a bridge removal project. According to a company employee, the crane become unbalanced, beginning to tip over when the worker was removing a girder from the bridge. The worker decided to not release the girder from the winching wire on the boom when the machine was headed downward into an already-made gap by the removal of other girders. The boom and girder crashed onto the tracks while the crane’s cab almost ended on its top on an embankment just above the railroad tracks below the bridge.
Mapleton, UT - A construction worker suffered from an electric shock and was in critical condition. He was a part of a crew operating a crane that was moving concrete slabs. When the crane became too close to a power line, electricity shot down a wire that was attached to the crane. The man became unconscious from the shock and was stabilized soon afterward.
Palm Beach, FL - A man operating a hydraulic saw at a hotel died when a wall collapsed on top of him. Air bags were used to lift the wall, and the man was lifted in a full-body basket by a crane. He was pronounced dead at a nearby medical center. OSHA is investigating the circumstances of the wall collapse.
Portland, ME - A crane operator, while attempting to turn around, backed into a utility pole. Though no injuries were sustained, the crane was responsible for knocking down three utility poles in one intersection; this also caused a blackout in a part of the city. The third pole crashed on top of a car windshield, where the female driver jumped out of the car immediately and ran to the other side of the street. However, emergency crews said that all drivers should stay in their vehicles in this situation until emergency crews arrived.
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