02.06.2017
Three injured as scissor lifts are overturned
Three men were seriously injured in Miami, Florida, yesterday after the two scissor lifts they were working from overturned, throwing them to the ground.
The two lifts were working on the fourth floor of a new concrete commercial buildingbeing built in North West Miami Dade County, The three men were placeing and securing the large concrete wall panels, being lifted into place by a crane, when according to a local witness the crane moved suddenly causing the wall panel to swing into the scissor lifts and overturn them. While the involvement of a crane has been cited, this specific version of events has not yet been fully verified.
The three men were rushed to hopsital trauma units in the area, with one of them of them being worse than the others. All three were said to be stable as of last night.
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The overturned scissor lifts
A spokesman for the contractor Brasfield & Gorrie said: "Our top corporate value is the safety and well-being of all employees working on our project sites. Brasfield & Gorrie is diligently working with local authorities to assess the situation that occurred this morning, in which three workers were injured when two scissor lifts fell. The injured workers were employed by our subcontractors, who are also participating in the investigation. We are relieved that the subcontractor employees are all reported to be in stable condition, but we will continue to monitor their progress and keep them and their families in our prayers."
Sad news, I wish the best for the injured workers and hope for a speedy recovery for all. From what I see in the picture and the report, MEWP selection may have had a significant role to play in this incident too. The larger Scissor (What appears to be an SJ4632) is rated for 1 person externally and the other (Possibly an SJ3226?) would be zero rated externally.
The report says the incident occurred on the 4th floor, 3 people were injured and the work are is clearly open to the elements, then at least one, if not both machines were overloaded. Contact with the crane may have been a contributory factor rather than the actual cause.