Presented at 2010 Crane & Rigging Conference May 27, 2010

Overview

• Analysis of crane related deaths and injuries in the U.S. construction industry
• Description of selected incidents
• Sources of data
  • Bureau of Labor statistics CFOI Research File
  • CraneAccidents.com
  • OSHA Underground
  • Cranes Today
  • Weekly Toll
  • News articles
• Descriptive statistics on deaths and injuries
• Recommendations/ Operation and Inspections
• Status of Regulation

Background: Selected Fatal Crane Incidents 2008*

3/15/08 New York, NY. Tower crane collapsed while being jumped, damaging several buildings.

6 construction workers and 1 bystander died
13 construction workers and 11 first responders injured

2 construction workers died
5 construction workers injured

5/30/08 New York, NY. Crane cab, boom and chain deck separate from tower mast and fell to street.

2 construction workers died
1 construction worker and 1 bystander injured

7/18/08 Houston, TX. Mobile crane fell on tent.

4 construction workers died
7 construction workers injured

7/24/08 Oklahoma City, OK. Mobile crane putting steeple on church collapses on car.

1 bystander died
1 bystander injured

10/10/08 China. Tower crane collapses on kindergarten.

5 children dead,
3 injured

* Source: Newspaper reports

Summary of Construction Crane-Related Deaths & Injuries, January to December, 2008*

*Involves incidents involving 88 mobile cranes, 7 tower cranes, 1 gantry crane and 1 crawler crane.

Sources: CraneAccidents.com, News articles, OSHA Underground, Cranes Today, The Weekly Toll

Causes of Construction Worker Crane-Related Deaths & Injuries, Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2008*

* Includes 7 highway incidents, 6 falls, 3 caught in/between, 3 struck by non-crane falling objects, and 1 struck by lightning incident

Causes of Bystander and OtherCrane-Related Deaths & Injuries, Jan.1 to Dec. 31, 2008

* Includes 11 first responder injuries in 3/15 New York tower crane collapse
** Includes 2 work zone intrusions, 1 struck by crane load, 1 struck by falling crane boom, and 1 overhead power line contact.

Crane-Related Deaths & Injuries by State, Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2008

• Summary:
  • 35 states had 97 crane incidents involving 57 deaths and 127 injuries
• States with the most incidents:
  • Fl: 13 (13%) with 3 deaths and 19 injuries
  • TX: 9 (9%) with 9 deaths and 20 injuries
  • NY: 7 (7%) with 11 deaths and 35 injuries
    These 3 states had 40% of deaths and 58% of injuries

Crane-Related Deaths in Construction, 1992-2006

632 crane-related deaths from 610 incidents in construction from 1992-2006

- An average of 42 deaths/year

Includes 18 multiple-death incidents involving a total of 40 deaths

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File. Data identified by selecting CFOI Source and Secondary Source codes = “Cranes”, and searching Narratives for key work “crane”.

Crane-Related Deaths in Construction by Year, 1992-2006

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Causes of Crane-Related Deaths in Construction, 1992-2006

* Included 64 struck by falling booms/jibs
** Included 21 falls from cranes, 9 falls from crane baskets, 8 from crane loads.
***Other causes included 9 highway incidents.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Types of Cranes Involved in Fatalities

• Mobile cranes
• Tower cranes
• Floating or barge cranes
• Overhead cranes

Types of Cranes Involved: Mobile Cranes

At least 71% of all crane-related incidents involved mobile cranes

Mobile cranes were involved in:

• 80 of 95 (84%) of overhead power line incidents
• 37 of 59 (63%) of crane collapses
• 35 of 59 (60%) of struck by boom/jib incidents

Types of Cranes Involved: Tower Cranes

Tower cranes were involved in:

• 16 of 306 (5%) of all crane related incidents
• 5 of 24 (21%) of struck by crane load incidents
• 5 of 59 (8%) of struck by boom/jib deaths

Types of Cranes Involved: Other/unspecified cranes

Other/unspecified cranes were involved in 24% of all crane related incidents, including:

• 13 floating or barge crane incidents
• 12 overhead crane incidents
• 49 unspecified cranes (16% of incidents)

Main Causes of Worker Deaths, by Frequency

• Electrocutions – from overhead power lines
• Struck by crane load
• Crane collapse
• Struck by falling boom/jib

Why Workers Died: Overhead Power Line Electrocutions

1992 - 2006 Number of Deaths: 157

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Why Workers Died: Struck By Crane Loads

1992 - 2006 Number of Deaths: 132

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Why Workers Died: Crane Collapses

1992 - 2006 Number of Collapses: 81 Number of Deaths: 89

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Why Workers Died: Struck by Falling Booms/Jibs

1992 - 2006 Number of Deaths: 64

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Trades of Workers Who Died Crane-Related Deaths in Construction, 1992-2006

* Includes 62 crane and tower operators, 21 operating engineers and other construction equipment operators, and 7 hoist and winch operators.
** Includes 24 welders and cutters, 22 electrical workers, 21 mechanics, 17 sheet metal workers, 14 truck drivers, and 73 others.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Research File

Recommendations

• Crane operators should be certified.
  • Presently only 15 states and a few cities (including New York City and Chicago) require certification.
• Crane riggers and signalpersons should be adequately trained.
• Crane inspectors should be qualified persons.
  • OSHA only requires that they be competent persons
• Cranes should be inspected before being assembled or modified.
• Only trained workers under the supervision of a qualified person and competent person should assemble, modify or disassemble cranes.
• Crane loads should not be allowed to pass over street traffic.
• OSHA should conduct more thorough investigations of crane-related fatalities and capture more complete data in its reporting system.
• OSHA should take immediately action on the proposed consensus crane and derrick standard for construction.

Regulatory Overview

On July 9, 2004, the Federal Advisory Committee on cranes and derricks (C-DAC) reached a consensus for a new crane and derricks standard.

On October 9, 2008, OSHA published a proposed rule on Cranes and Derricks in Construction in the Federal Register. The deadline for comments was January 22, 2009 and a hearing held March 17. Final rule is due in July, 2010

For Further Information

• Mike McCann: mmccann@cpwr.com
• Electronic Library of Construction Safety and Health (eLCOSH): www.elcosh.org
• CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training: www.cpwr.com