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© KYODO2 workers die at wind farm after crane-hoisted gondola falls to ground
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Disillusioned
Possibly for negligence? This should never happen! The only reason this could have happened is through carelessness or neglect. There is no possibility at all!
Strangerland
What a sad story. No one should have to die for their job.
This sentence is a mess.
Or an accident. Contrary to the beliefs of posters on this site, accidents do happen.
SwissToni
Accidents do happen, it's true. This too is an accident as there's no suggestion these two deaths were intentional. But in general, with analysis, accidents are almost always traced to a breakdown in the process. Be that a failure to check and use the equipment correctly, proper training or in management and supervision at some level. There is the possibility of failure due to a manufacturing fault but again that would require looking at to reduce the possibility of a repeat.
SwissToni
Too early to say, particularly without seeing the site. There could be any number of reasons why a cherry picker wasnt used. If a crane and man basket was used, the size would appear to be quite small to allow safe working for two. Curious to know why the jib moved and the basket became detached.
Disillusioned
An accident is spilling your coffee on your suit, which is also carelessness. You do not hoist people into the air without proper safety procedures and checking the equipment thoroughly. Accidents happen for a reason. In this case, it is carelessness and/or neglect. It states there were four cables on the gondola. Perhaps there should have been eight. Or, as stated above, they should have been in a cherry picker. Hoisting people by crane is illegal in Australia but I don't know about Japan.
Brian Wheway
1: a 1 qubic meter basket for two people? thats small, may be it ought to be bigger, 2: is there a fault in the Hydraulic system that made it jurk 3: the only way the basket could come off the hook is that the safety clip was not working on the crane. look for yellow clip on picture (http://www.eilbeckwinches.com/files/cache/7b3e513ee77d7036bd624a3d3b8384c2_f249.png
4: may be the crane driver hit the gondola on some branches that he could not see, but there is no way it should have come off the hook. I am a tree surgeon in the Uk some times we use cranes, they are built very well and inspected daily for faults, these gondola baskets are built to withstand a lot of weight and daily use.
5: why were these guys working from a basket only on a 10-15 meter tree? we would normally climb that with a rope and harness, its far less agro.
my heart and sympathies go out to these poor chaps and there families.
SwissToni
There's no good reason not to hoist by crane, as long as the equipment is rated for the job, in good condition and used properly by trained and experienced people. We don't know why a crane and basket was used rather than a cherry picker. It may have been due to cost, but I see little saving choosing to hire a crane over a MEWP. I would speculate it has more to do with the site than cost.
As there's no indication the crane collapsed, I would focus my energy on the man basket, the shackles, fall arrest and the operation/supervision.
SwissToni
Zichi, I wouldn't want to work from a basket either, but it is common practise in the utilities industry where tower, scaffold, or and cherry picker use may not be possible. It's also often preferable to rope access.
If the men got into the basket without their harnesses, or hadn't hooked up, they would be culpable. However, the article says that basket came down so it would seem that fall arrest is not the issue.
If two men got into a basket rated for one, with tools and equipment they may have overloaded it. It may be that the slings and shackles attaching the basket to the hook were not assembled correctly. There are as many ways the men could have contributed to their own demise as the company. Until the investigation is complete we don't know who, if anybody is in the wrong.
Brian Wheway
Zichi the biggest cherry picker is no more than 35m and they are used in Oz where the eucalyptus trees grow to a whopping size, (ACE TREE CARE) check it out you tube, and I think you find that most cranes would not reach 60m