As per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the United States has approximately 125,000 cranes operating in the construction industry alone. While cranes carry out several heavy-duty tasks, they expose workers and nearby people to serious risks if the crane safety system is not functional or when the crane warning system is ignored.
To date, there have been numerous incidents of crane failure and accidents around the world. These accidents often result in serious injuries and fatalities; mainly because there is heavy equipment involved.
Those who are involved in an accident need to seek advice from crane accident attorneys for compensation and medical help. These attorneys analyze the facts and fight on your behalf to get you the monetary compensation you deserve, in case you are not responsible for the mistake.
Nonetheless, the best way to avoid crane accidents is having functional crane safety systems, crane warning devices such as crane load indicators and wireless anti-two-block or ATB, never ignoring the crane warning systems and, of course, knowing how to use cranes.
To expand your understanding of crane accidents, here are 6 common causes of crane accidents and how they can be prevented.
Sources of Crane Accidents
1. Exceeding Crane Capacity
Cranes have certain limits that ensure they don’t topple over. They also utilize counterweights and outrigger systems to balance out weight. One of the most common types of crane accidents are caused by overload and this is the reason you must have a functional crane load indicator and pay serious attention to it when operating your crane.
2. Insufficient Training
OSHA mandates every crane service to train their employees for crane operation. Employees who are engaged in crane operations must be fully aware of how they are to be operated in addition to being given warnings for any existing and potential dangers. They must also be taught how to use any crane indicators on their equipment and understand the information the crane warning system is showing them.
3. Mechanical Failures
Mechanical failures include those that occur due to a lack of maintenance and inspections. Just like any other heavy-duty equipment, cranes require maintenance and care to keep them intact and performing at optimal levels. A lack of maintenance and inspections can result in serious failures and cause cranes to either breakdown or undergo problems that result in accidents.
4. Electrocution
Surprisingly, a lot of crane accidents occur because of overhead pieces coming in contact with electrical wires. Electrocution causes more accidents than we think they do and these are often fatal. The crane operator and other workers in the basket must be aware of any wires in the way and avoid them. Many crane indicators have the option for range limiting so that the crane can be operated near obstacles like power lines.
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