16.07.2008

Harneses saves - lack of kills one

A man working in a self propelled articulated boom lift in Queens, New York yesterday was catapulted from the platform after the lift was clipped by a delivery truck. He was not wearing a harness and lanyard at the time.

The man was one of at least two who had been working on the glass façade of a building from the boom, reported to be in his 40's he fell 17 metres, landing face down on the pavement in front of the Astoria Diner on Steinway street.

At least one other worker, (some reports claim there were three in the lift at the time) who was also in the basket at the time, was wearing a harnesses and short lanyard and escaped any serious physical injuries.
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The lift after the upper boom was lowered to let the survivor escape

The accident occurred around 17:00 yesterday evening, when the delivery truck heading south on Steinway Street appears to have clipped the lower boom of the Genie Z80-60, which was retracted and partially lowered. Witness’s say that the lift was not coned off and the lower boom was protruding into the street.

The impact caused the boom to swing back and forth, it would have been the recoil that would have created the catapult effect.
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The scene yesterday evening in New York

The truck driver, Neil Alvarez, 36, is employed by UTS Transport Services in of New Jersey and was badly shaken.

He said: "I saw the crane but I didn't think they were working because you can't see the top. I felt an impact and looked in my mirrors, but I didn't see anything. When I heard people screaming I stopped. I was scared. Nothing like this ever happened before. I wish this didn't happen."

Police on the scene said that they were not issuing Alvarez with any ticket, while the NewYork Buildings Department said that it will be citing the contractor, Star Window and Design, for a number of violations related to the accident.



Everyone sees things differently

Sorting fact from fiction!

This accident is remarkable for the number of different versions emanating from eye witnesses. As a result we are not absolutely sure of exactly what happened, although we do know that the use of a harness and short lanyard probably saved at least one life.

The first information we were sent this morning said that a man had been thrown out of the basket of the boom after it was hit by a truck and that his two co-workers, who happened to be wearing harnesses, survived.

Thinking it odd that three men would be in this lift when two is the norm, we did some more digging and found some local reports that said there were only two in the basket. Odd then that one would have a harness and one would not?

Then while all the initial reports said that the truck ran into the lift, we found one man who said that it he saw the trick reverse into the boom?? In this case the damage to the top front of truck while the rear is undamaged looks like strong evidence that this last man was smoking something other than tobacco. However he added some further facts that migh explain the two or three men in the basket dichotomy.

The reversing up man says that there were two men in the platform and both had harnesses on and that the third man was standing on the roof of the building being worked on, and that when the truck hit the boom basket came round and knocked him off the roof.

This might explain the original three men reports. And for sure the initial impact of the truck would have sent the booms basket away from where the man would have been standing, but it is then likely that it would have rebounded rapidly and could easily have struck the man off of the roof, while the men inside were held in by their lanyards.

There were several other odd discrepancies in the eye witnesses accounts such as the fallen man was face down, while another said he landed on his back! It is just amazing how a sudden accident is seen so differently by people who were there at the time.

However the key thing here is that whomever was operating the platform, had the booms knuckle protruding out into the street at a height which was not easily visible and the machine was not cordoned off. Thankfully they at least (with the possible exception of one) had the intelligence to be wearing harnesses and lanyards which may well have saved their lives.