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A worker was fatally injured by a falling load while erecting a transmission tower west of Dalby in Queensland in March 2012. A 20 tonne rough terrain mobile crane was being used to lift part of the tower when it appears the auxiliary winch inadvertently went into free fall and the load fell, striking the worker.
Hoist winches on some mobile cranes are fitted with a free fall feature that allows the hook and load to fall under gravity in an uncontrolled manner. This feature has been traditionally provided on cranes for activities such as clam-shell dredging and dynamic compaction. However, the risk associated with an inadvertent activation of the free fall feature can be high and the provision is rarely needed. Most mobile crane manufacturers do not provide this feature on new cranes. The risk to workers from falling loads and potential damage to the crane and crane operator is too great to continue to allow free fall on cranes as standard industry practice.
To prevent inadvertent activation of the free fall feature, it is a common practice for crane owners to install a physical lock. Unfortunately, some of the physical lock arrangements have not been effectively installed. Errors have been made when interpreting the operation of the free fall switching mechanism such as the physical lock being fitted to the wrong side of the switch. In this example the crane may inadvertently go into free fall if the hoist brake pedal on the crane is depressed.
This incident has highlighted the need for the cranes to be operated so that inadvertent free fall of the load cannot occur. WorkSafe considers that the following remedial action should be taken by all owners of mobile cranes in Western Australia to meet their general duty of care for safety.
The test of the free fall function (while the lock is installed) is to verify that free fall cannot be inadvertently activated. The test should be carried out in a controlled environment where people cannot be injured and the crane cannot be damaged. A signed, written record of the test should be provided on the crane.
The information in this Alert is from the Alert, Mobile cranes and the safe use of a free fall feature issued by the State of Queensland (Department of Justice and Attorney – General), 2012.
WorkSafe does not warrant the information in this Alert is complete or up to date and does not accept any liability to any person for the information in this report or as to its use.
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