UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 10:15 p.m. on May 28, 1999, Employee #1, four other iron workers, and a crane operator were installing rebar inside a hemispherical dome under construction at a marine terminal for storage of petroleum coke. The iron workers were in a personnel basket that was directly pinned to the 35 ft fixed jib (2 degree offset) of a 65-ton Grove crane, model RT865B, serial #82747. The basket was approximately 64 ft above the floor of the structure when the crane tipped over and the basket fell to the floor. At some during the fall, the basket struck the gunite previously installed on the lower circumferential rings of the wall. This slowed down the basket and the workers during the last part of their fall. Employee #1 suffered a fractured foot and remained hospitalized for over 24 hours. The total weight of the five workers, the rebar to be installed, and the 56 ft long basket was 5,100 lb. This far exceeded the 1,179 lb capacity of the crane, as specified in the crane's load chart.