A man in Somerville on the north side of Boston, Massachusetts was seriously injured after the boom of the truck mounted platform he was using failed.
The man was installing decorative lights in a steel frame on a street in the town on Thursday September 5th when the platform - a 20 metre Socage DA365 articulated model - suddenly buckled and descended. It appears that one of the two upper riser arms lost its pivot pin, causing the other arm to buckle.
It looks as though the man had been wearing a harness, but the lanyard was not short enough to prevent him hitting the ground.
On the surface this might look like a case of poor maintenance and inspection, but there may well be other factors at play of course, so it is best not to jump to conclusions.
We will update this item if and when we learn more.
UPDATE 1
Manufacturer's Statement
The statement is as follows:
“Socage expresses solidarity with the operator involved in the accident in Somerville, Boston (Massachusetts) on September 5th, and has launched a thorough investigation. It is also our duty to share our version of the events regarding what happened.
We learned with great sadness about the accident involving one of our machines, and our first thought was for the injured operator. At Socage, the safety and wellbeing of operators have always been our top priority: high quality platforms with high performance and ease of use for operators to meet the needs of both rental companies and end users.
Regarding the incident, we wish to inform you that we are promptly investigating what happened. The machine in question, a Socage DA365, was sold as a KIT several years ago, and before releasing any official statement, we will proceed with a careful verification of the information.
We are determined to fully understand the dynamics of this episode in order to prevent similar events from happening again in the future.
We will continue to cooperate with the competent authorities and all parties involved to fully clarify what happened. We reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality and providing the maximum support to ensure the safety of the operators using our machinery.”
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