10.10.2022

Aerial lift fatalities

A man working for a highway construction company has died after being catapulted out of the platform he was working from in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Friday.

The man, Derek Cronk, 41 of Swank Construction was working on an overpass from the left hand lane, which was closed off, but his platform was extended over the open right hand lane, and a tractor trailer clipped the bottom of the bucket. The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning.

Tragically Cronk was thrown from the bucket and over the edge of the overpass, one can only assume that he was not wearing a harness and short lanyard. He was taken to hospital where he died. The driver of the truck fully co-operated with the police, and it is hoped that the vehicle's dash cam will provide additional information. The police has also been looking at the signage and lighting on the site.

In another incident near Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia yesterday a man driving a pick up truck died after slamming into the back of a parked bucket truck/truck mounted platform that was being used to work on overhead road maintenance. In this case the operator noticed the vehicle approaching fast and was either harnessed in and or held on tight and was unhurt.

IPAF publishes a guidance document on the safe use of aerial work platforms in public areas which is worth downloading by anyone involved with such work: Simply click here to access and for a free download