drum118
Superstar
Perhaps ... but I've talked to contractors who use the nearly identical rig to the one that toppled. They couldn't understand why anyone was so incompetent thatr the rig was moving with the boom extended the way it was. The operator should have known it wasn't right. As should a half-dozen people on Site who should have shut them down. It was an accident waiting to happen. From what I've heard, this wasn't a fluke, but a direct result of the equipment being used in a way that it was never meant to be, and any competent contractor would have known that.
My gut feeling on what I have heard that is "hear say only", the operator was at fault. Not the first time operator error or incompetent has happen on site. Even what I saw on site said the same thing.
Seen the boom on a 150 T Mobile crane buckle while lifting a $200,000 piece of equipment to the point that the equipment was a wright off as well the 2 month old crane. Operatore claim the equipment weight more that the lift call for, but in the end, he had the boom too far out for the weight. It took 6 months of investagation and checking the crane and equipment to state operator error. The company was force to have its insurance company paid the cost of rebuilding the new equipment and buying a new crane. It also had to pay for the delay of the project.
If the foreman was on site along with safety personal, then there is legal problems at hand. If it was only workers, then they could not do anything since they have no power to do so, other walking of the site claiming safety issues.
The sad thing is, rule of thumb on this type of project will see at least one person kill.
All company's have sign posted on site some where stating how many man hours have taken place between injuries.
On this type of project, you will have dozens of subcontractors to the main contractor. Some of these subcontractors will have subcontractors also.
Over the years, I have thrown a few subcontractors off sites for various reason with safety being number one and I was only a sub in the first place. 720 was the worse to deal with when you asked for one type of personal and got a different one, as that was left in the hall at the time. Some were good, but most only last a few hours or a day and told never show up again.
I have seen brand new chokers and slings break during a lift that has caused issues and delays. Can't blame the crew or the operator, as they didn't make them in the first place.