12.06.2020

Boom lift fatality

A man died, while another was seriously injured in Pennsylvania yesterday when a coal belt conveyor being dismantling from a 150ft boom lift collapsed.

The incident occurred at a decommissioned coal fired power plant in McAdoo, Pennsylvania – north west of Allentown. The two were working from the platform of a Genie SX 150 - belonging to United Rentals - at a height of around 24 metres, when the top section of the conveyor suffered a ‘catastrophic failure’ and struck the platform’s basket as it came down.

Dennis Fleming, 32, died at the scene while his co-worker was airlifted to a local hospital, where he is said to be in a critical condition. An investigation has been launched, involving both OSHA and mining safety and health officials.
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The Northeastern Power Company plant closed at the end of 2018 and is owned by the Luminant division of Vistra Energy.

A statement from the company said: "Luminant is devastated to hear about the death of a contractor on location at our retired Northeastern Power Company plant in McAdoo, Pennsylvania, where decommissioning activities are taking place. Our company was notified of the situation this afternoon. The federal workplace safety health agencies have been contacted, and an investigation into the cause of the incident is underway."