Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp. Cited in Connection with 2 Worker Fatalities
The company could have prevented the deaths
The deaths of two workers in a crane tip-over in Bourne, Mass, could have been prevented if their employer had set up and operated the crane according to the manufacturer’s instructions and trained employees in its proper operation, according to a release from OSHA.
The Massachusetts Bay Electrical Corp. workers were working from a raised personnel platform attached to an Elliot 40142 truck-mounted crane. They were working on power lines on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal, when the crane overturned and fell more than 150 feet to the ground.
“These deaths were preventable,” said Brenda Gordon, OSHA’s area director for Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. “The employer did not refer to or use readily available and necessary information that would have allowed this work to be conducted safely. This lapse placed two workers in harm’s way and needlessly cost them their lives.”
OSHA found that company employees were not properly trained or evaluated on the Elliott 40142 truck-mounted crane prior to use. Supervisors at the job site did not follow procedures for setting up and operating the crane in accordance with the crane’s safety manual, even though the manual was in the crane and at the job site. They also did not conduct proper prelift planning and other required tests to ensure that the lift could be done safely.