Question Hi Mr. Smith,
I'm a reporter for the King County Journal outside Seattle. We just had a major tower crane accident at a high-rise construction site, so I'm looking for an expert on crane accidents and safety. Any ideas?
Noel Brady
Answer Boy crane accidents are a little out of my arena. The accidents I have investigated have involved cable failure and rollover accidents. If your crane has tipped over, start looking at the “foundation” and start from their. Outriggers, footings, foundation, and because the crane is built from the ground up start looking at each piece upward. I don’t know in your case if the crane cable failed, or did the crane come apart? Did the crane frame break? Did the crane tip over? Or in a catastrophic failure did the crane fall in one piece or did a component of the crane fall off?
Crane investigations are difficult because there are so few experts in the field. I know of one (Earl Carter) but I don’t know what has become of him. I have not seen him in 8+ years. Our Utah OSHA office had a crane expert by the name of Neil Anderson but I think he has retired now. It may be worth a phone call to them and see if he could be located as a consultant if you have the need. One other note: “Buyer beware” there are a lot of people that claim to be experts in the field because there is so few that the price of an expert in this field go for top dollar. Make sure that whoever you deal with in this field has some paper behind them. (i.e.: valid certificates, engineer degree, etc) There are lots of backyard experts in this field.
I wish I could help you more but I am a long way from being an expert in this field. I could investigate the accident and find the cause but it would take a very long time.
If you find you need more answers and you have maybe a little more specific questions, I would be glad to help. By the way, crane accidents usually come with some pretty serious injuries. Is this the case in your accident? I wish I could help you more. Try your OSHA office, or better yet, Try the Federal OSHA office, I'm sure they have an expert in their office.
Good luck. Remember the Buyer Beware.
Mike
