Crane Accidents Reaching Critical Mass?

[Treetom]

rbtree, that **** scares me

Many suburban yards in these parts used to be rural areas. In such locations I ask the homeowner if there is (was) a septic system in the yard. Many times the answer is: "No, we're hooked up to the city sewer lines," or "We used to have a septic tank, but it was filled in." Such reponses has prompted me to always check the area we'll be driving over, or on which we set our crane stabilizers, with a long metal prod, at least 2ft long, in order to locate the edge of any underground tanks. Don't count on the homeowner to know where his septic tank is located or know the condition of the old system. Many owners of an older home may not have any idea of what's under their lawn. And, obviously, it may not be where they think it is anyway. It's worth the few minutes it takes check before you set your crane stabilizers or drive a heavy machine across a lawn. Work safe, too many cranes going over.

 

[tree MDS]

Wish me luck.
We have a 90 ton crane scheduled in the morning, from a company I never heard of and an operator I never met.
It is for a 7' dbh oak removal with no drop zone. Every thing will have to be flown out and into the road.
Every tree company around has rejected this tree over the past several years.

Souds sweet dude, good luck! BTW I like that attitude, "every tree company has rejected it", nice!

 

[Farmall Guy]

The dangers surrounding cranes and lifting just does not go away with "common sense" that is not nearly enough to give decent safety environment. It takes a lot of specialized knowledge. Another thing that contributes to accidents often is people who by their nature will deliberately push the limits or flaunt rules. There has to be a way of putting the brakes on them. Often that person is in a position of authority and a green operator who does not know the laws and safety limits is easily intimidated into a dangerous situation.

+1

I used to work in a shop just like that, (granted we only used bridge cranes but when something breaks dose it really matter what kind of crane it is, dead is dead) Any way we were pulling an engine that the book said weighed 2800lbs and did it with a 2000lbs crane because the boss told us "the cranes werent really rated for that it was just a guide line" :censored: Myself and one of the older guys tried to convince him that it wasnt safe but he insisted that we use that bay to do the job. When we picked the engine the crane rails pulled down 6" from the ceilling before the engine started to pick up. We got luckey that nothing broke, and it wasnt too long after that incident when I quit and went to work for a company that really dose put safety first.

 

[Texas Traveler]

Once again, my question is: "Who certifies these operators? What is the exact name of the certifying body? We have ISA and TCIA, who do they have?" If it's some kind of company by company, in-house deal, as in "Yeah, Joe, we'll get you up in the cab and Bob will run through the whole operator protocol with you for a few days and then you'll get a nice certificate." I'm not buying that as proper certification. If, OTOH, there is a national certifying body that requires an extensive written exam be passed and a practical hands-on exam as well, then certification may have some actual value. So, who is the national certifying organization?

Sorry I am late getting back on this subject, at the time the company had several of their employees go through a training session of which I seemed to be the only one that had any real world experince.
The rest of the crowd seem to be wannebees trying to get in on a easy deal.

And that the company wanted a scrape-goat on any foreseeable accidents

At that time there were no state except a few that requires a crane license.

The best answer is to talk to OSHA on any updates, you should know that.