03.04.2007

Man injured in aerial lift

A man was airlifted to hospital yesterday from a building site at Castle Hill, Maidenhead (UK) after he became trapped between the guardrails of his aerial lift and a steel overhead pipe.

It took firefighters about half an hour to free the man using cutting tools and inflatable air bags. The man, thought to be in his forties, was then treated by paramedics at the scene before being airlifted to Wexham Park Hospital near Slough.

His condition last night was not known, but his injuries were described as 'serious'

Some 12 Police cars and three fire trucks were said to have attended the accident, the case has now been handed over to Health and Safety Executive inspectors.

Vertikal Comment

This is the second such incident that we know of in three days, at this stage no specific details are known, But…. If reports are correct it seems odd that it took half an hour to free the man. Did no one know how to use the emergency descent? Was it a scissor lift had locked out?

All are questions that need to be answered and hopefully we will see feedback from the HSE sooner rather than later so any lessons can be learnt now and not in two years time.