Bucket/crane accident

[Tom Dunlap]

On Friday I got a call from an arbo here in the Twin Cities about the rumor of an arbo death. Jim told me that a fellow was using a crane and his bucket. There was an accident and the bucket operator died. No more details now. If I find out more, I'll post.

Tom

 

[Riggs]

It's a lot easier to get out of the way climbing on crane jobs than being trapped in a bucket . I hate cranes , that's why I charge a ton of money for crane work . When a crane job goes bad , it usually isn't good news.
{A septa guy last month was killed when he was running a bucket over the live track , he thought he had clearance when a frieght train went under him (???) and was whacked by a double stacked car . Flung him 100ft and dragged the boom 500 ft..}
- Was it a rented crane or company crane ?
- crane failure or rigging failure ?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Just got a little clarification on the death. The climber was in the bucket when the bottom of the rotator and lower boom mount broke. I remember seeing this bucket on the road. It was mounted on a one ton chassis. Made in a shop here in the Twin Cities. Not a "name" brand as far as I know. The story that I heard is that the bucket had not been inspected in the last year, maybe more. When the tower crashed, the climber was tossed out since he didn't have a safety lanyard on. The bucket came down on top of him. No idea if the fall killed him or the crush.

Sad...he left behind a wife and kids

Tom