Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125909457 - Sampson Steel

Inspection Information - Office: Santa Ana District Office

Investigation Summary

The employer is a structural steel erection contractor. Employees were in the process of lifting a 200 pound bundle of cross braces with a crane. The crane is an American Crane, Model Number 7510, Serial Number GS 115848. The bundle was lifted at an angle of about 80 degrees, within the crane's load rating chart. There were three employees involved with the lift. Employee #1 was a signalman and Employee #2 was an ironworker who was guiding the load at the time of the accident. A coworker was the crane operator. As the load was being lifted by the crane operator, the load and boom fell after the boom lever was locked and the load was cabled down. Employee #1 had the boom fall directly on top of him, but somehow squeezed into the space between the chords and the diagonals of the crane boom. One of the diagonals struck Employee #1 on the back and drove his body down into the structural steel. Employee #1 sustained two broken feet and massive contusions throughout the body. Employee #2, who was guiding the load, was pulled off the structural steel but somehow hung onto the sling that he was using to guide the load. The boom bent and stopped, resting on a concrete block wall and structural steel. Employee #2 had a "soft" landing because of the boom bending and sustained facial lacerations and contusion as a result of his 20 foot fall. Causal factors could not be determined for this accident. An American Crane Corporation expert examined the crane after the accident but the results of his investigation were inconclusive. He did notice that the sprag clutch mechanism that holds the boom in an upright position was out of adjustment. A test was conducted on the sprag. The crane was rigged and the boom was raised to an angle equivalent to the conditions during the accident. No operational problems were noticed. The crane maintenance records were reviewed. The sprag was not maintained per manufacturer's specifications.

Keywords: FRACTURE, CRANE BOOM, FALL, STRUCK BY, CONTUSION, CRANE