Construction Accident Prevention

Break neck industrial growth has brought with it a corresponding increase in construction accidents or work related hazards and injuries. The causes are too numerous to list, but injuries caused by human errors and design flaws can undeniably be eliminated.

Here is an illustrative example: Construction accident at Iowa wind farm -- During the course of construction work at an Iowa wind farm in the summer of 1997, a 36-year-old employee for a crane service company was killed while he was working on top of a portable tower crane.

The sequence of events leading to the ghastly accident follows:
1. The tower crane was preparing to install a 20-ton generator on top of a 140-foot windmill column.
2. The victim was standing on the crane platform charging the battery for the winch engine.
3. Suddenly the right outrigger of the crane slid off its footing and the entire crane fell and crashed on the ground.
4. The victim was killed instantly.

The concerned agencies did a thorough investigation as to the cause of the accident and the following recommendations were made:
• Portable cranes must be set up with extreme care.
• Workers and supervisors must meticulously check the alignments stipulated in the crane’s manual.
• Tower cranes must be provided with additional anchorage.
• The construction agency must properly assess the suitability of a crane for each specific job.

The construction accident described above is a case in point that illustrates how proper preventive measures would have avoided the tragic occurrence.