03.05.2007

Harness saves one

An accident with a boom lift at the Alcan Gove refinery at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory, Australia last Monday left one man dead after he was catapulted from the boom lifts basket.

The lift, a JLG 800AJ was working with a fully retracted boom and elevated telescoped riser at around eight or nine metres when the riser seems to have been lowered and the machine tipped over backwards causing a massive catapult effect.
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The platform of the lift remained in the air

Daniel Burman, 33, a maintenance worker employed by Norblast Industrial Solutions was thrown to his death while his co-worker was retained in the basket thanks to his harness and was later treated in Gove hospital.

The Northern Territory Department of Mines and WorkSafe have carried out an investigation of the accident; a spokesman said that the investigators have completed their interviews and inspections at the Alcan site.

He also said that the investigation is concentrating on whether the accident was caused by human error or mechanical failure and if the Mines Act was breached in the process.
Alcan is also holding its own internal investigation into the incident.