Crane boom collapses; no injuries reported

CASPER Wyoming— A crane boom collapsed near the intersection of East Second and McKinley streets on Monday afternoon.

No injuries and no extensive property damage were reported, said Lee Watts, safety manager for Energy Transportation Inc.

A small utility shed located behind a business was destroyed in the crane’s fall, however.

The accident occurred at about 3 p.m. Monday as workers were attempting to pin the 350-ton crane’s boom after the move of a structure near the intersection.

Late Monday, workers with the company were still working to secure the boom.

Manitowoc Crane investigating fatal accident

Pennsylvania

Manitowoc Crane Group is investigating the cause of a Jan. 4 accident that led to the death of a Chambersburg, Pa., man, a company official said Tuesday.

Jeffrey Cowan, 41, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a fall at Manitowoc Crane Group in Shady Grove.

The company is unclear what caused the accident, said Dennis Rooney, vice president of human resources for the Americas division of Manitowoc Cranes.

Cowan was working on the deck of a crane in the final assembly area when he fell, Rooney said. He died less than a week later.

“It is upsetting what happened to Jeffrey,” Rooney said. “He was a great man. Our hearts go out to his family.”

Because the incident resulted in a fatality, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration has visited the manufacturing facility on Pa. 16 east of Greencastle, Pa., Rooney said.

The Shady Grove plant, formally Grove Worldwide, was purchased by Manitowoc in 2002, and produces small and large cranes.

The plant is one of Franklin County’s largest employers.

Rooney said Cowan worked in the final assembly area and had worked at the plant for a little less than five years.

Before coming to Manitowoc, Cowan served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, according to his obituary.

Man dies in Houston crane accident

A crane collapse in Houston has killed a 41-year-old man.

Police say the accident happened at a printing company.

Police say Cesar Barrios Gomez of Houston was dead at the scene.

Authorities say Gomez had been trying to maneuver the crane to another location when the base failed and the crane topped. The victim was pinned beneath the equipment Monday night.

Police told the Houston Chronicle that the crane had a maximum capacity of 1 ton and that Gomez allegedly overloaded it.

1 dead in Kansas City, Mo., crane accident

Nov 10, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site of a Kansas City, Mo., performing arts center, police said.

The two men were in the bucket of the 100-foot-tall JLG Lift when it fell away from the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and landed across a platform of steel beams at about 1:40 p.m., officials said.

One of the men was pronounced dead at a hospital, said police spokesman Darin Snapp. The other was listed in serious but stable condition and was able to talk. Snapp said both men were in their 30s, but their identities were not immediately released.

Kansas City Missouri police officers look at a portable boom lift that fell at the construction site of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site, police said.

The men were installing steel panels on the building for Detroit-based subcontractor Midwest Steel, said Kyle McQuiston, spokesman for Kansas City-based general contractor JE Dunn Construction Group.

Construction on the 13-acre site began in 2006 and is scheduled to be finished in 2011. The $400 million center will be the home of the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet.

McQuiston said the construction site had no previous fatalities or injuries.

Workers were sent home for the day while investigators examined the site, said JE Dunn president Dan Euston.

"We have an onsite safety team down there and are working with investigators, both local and any federal agencies, to determine what caused this accident," Euston said. "We’re very deeply saddened by this event. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families."

Crane accidents kill up to 82 construction workers each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration. A crane at the construction site of a new federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, also collapsed Tuesday, but police say no one was hurt.

A construction worker died last month after falling from a lift that toppled over and struck a downtown Philadelphia apartment building.

And two New York City crane collapses in 2 1/2 months during the spring of 2008 left nine people dead. Investigators have blamed faulty rigging of an 11,000-pound crane part in the first of those accidents, which killed seven people on March 15, 2008.

Port of Stockton

cargoes as well as containers and steel products and are equipped with 15-cubic yard grabs and container frames. Both facilities can handle cargo from vessels direct to truck, rail (one of two loop railroad tracks serves Dock 10\11), dockside storage and by conveyor.

Recounting the Port of Stockton’s assets, it has first class warehouse storage and handling facilities for both dry and liquid bulk materials, facilities and equipment to handle break-bulk and containerized cargoes by land or by sea. Immediate access to two transcontinental railroads is complemented by two loop railroads, one on-dock, for accommodating unit trains for export of coal, petroleum coke, and ores, plus consolidation of rail shipments of inbound and outbound steel coils. All of these components place the Port in an ideal position for domestic as well as national and international distribution.

Relative to industrial development, the Port is especially attractive to, and interested in, attracting projects that require waterborne transportation for delivery of raw or finished goods.

All of the Port’s services are directed by experienced people through one administrative complex. This provides a unique advantage for flexibility as well as efficiency. The Port of Stockton publishes tariffs, stevedores cargoes, assigns berths, supervises cargo activity, provides shipping documentation, accounting and rate quotations. It is a broad hands-on effort that includes marketing, traffic, property management, warehousing, distribution, data processing and police protection services to its customers.

The Port of Stockton’s staff welcome your interest and invite your inquiries concerning the Port’s services and facilities. Please see our Contact page for information.

New Crane Operator Regulations in the Works

For the first time since 1971 the federal government is updating crane regulations. Triggered by various lethal crane accidents around the country this past year, the U.S. Department of Labor is set to release drafts of the new regulations, which focus mainly on crane operator standards.

New Standards

The new regulations will require crane operators to pass both written and practical tests in all 50 states and complete more training. Currently only 15 states and 6 cities require tests. Crane operators will have various options to become certified/qualified under the new rules:

• Certification through accredited third-party testing organizations
• Qualification through audited employer testing programs
• U.S. military-issued qualification
• Qualification by state/local licensing authorities

In addition to the certification and training of crane operators the new rules also hone in on inspecting ground conditions, crane assembly and disassembly, operating near power lines, and the use of safety devices and crane inspections.

It is expected that the final approval of all of the regulations will “likely take more than a year.”

Sources:

(1) Devlin, Barrett. The Associated Press. September 18, 2008.

NAHETS Crane Operator Training & Certification

Member schools of the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) across the country offer mobile crane operator training and certification programs. Each of the member schools are authorized to administer the NCCCO Mobile Crane Certification tests. They also offer training from instructors, all holding NCCCO Mobile Crane Operator Certifications, to prepare for the tests. Visit the NAHETS Crane Site for more information.

NCCC Elects Non-Renewal Status with NCCER

On August 1, 2008 Northern California College of Construction (NCCC) elected to not renew its Accredited Training Sponsor and Accredited Training Unit status with the National Center on Construction Education and Research NCCER. In late August NCCC notified NCCER of its intended actions regarding election to not renew its training entity status with NCCER; however, the value of the NCCER sponsored training curriculum; i.e., Contren Learning Series will remain an integral part of the NCCC and all NAHETS member schools’ curriculum.

Yellow Metal Hot Tip 2: Getting Out of a Tight Spot

Last week’s hot tip taught us how to jump a ditch with a backhoe; this week’s hot tip will teach us how to get out of those tights spots on the job site. This Yellow Metal Hot Tip is brought to you by Yellow Metal TV and the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS). Once again, Blake Vernon of the Nevada School of Construction (NVSC) will take us through behind the wheel. This week’s hot tip features the wheel loader.

Make sure you subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss the next hot tip!

Video Hot Tip: How to Jump Trench with Backhoe

All of us have seen the “yellow metal” on the road side while driving to work, but many of us do not know exactly what those machines are capable of doing, let alone know how to operate them. Sure we know that a backhoe can move dirt around and dig holes. Surely it can’t be that hard to get in a backhoe and just drive it around. But the matter of fact is that you don’t use a backhoe just to drive it around; you use a backhoe to operate it, and that may take more skill and experience than one may think . . . and surely there is more to a backhoe besides just moving dirt around…

To illustrate what it takes to be a true heavy equipment operator on a daily basis, we’ll take a look at a video hot tip from a NAHETS online industry resource–Yellow Metal TV. In response to an actual question from a heavy equipment operator in Wisconsin, Blake Vernon–Heavy Equipment Instructor for the Nevada School of Construction (NVSC)–takes us through a specific scenario on how to jump a ditch with a backhoe while a form board is already in place . . .

Short Version

Full Length Version

*If you do not see the videos see (1) Short Version & (2) Full Length Version

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So You Think You’re a Backhoe Operator?

This guy is good!

Backhoe–From the ground to the top of a train!