Date of incident: October 2021
Notice of incident number: 2021189780002
Employers: Delivery firm; construction company (prime contractor)

Incident summary

At a residential construction site, a crane operator, accompanied by another worker, was delivering I-beams for the main frame of the house. During the unloading, a beam struck the crane operator, knocking the operator from the deck of the mobile crane truck to the ground. The beam fell from the truck and onto the operator. The operator sustained fatal injuries. The other worker was not in the vicinity and was not harmed.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Operator fell from crane truck while unloading I-beam. The operator was unloading steel I-beams from the bed of a mobile crane truck. When one of the beams was being lifted, it somehow became unstable. The operator was knocked off the truck by the beam, which then landed on top of him. The incident was not witnessed.

Contributing factors

• Incorrect set-up of mobile crane truck. Correct procedures for setting up the mobile crane truck were not followed. The truck was not level, and the outriggers were not set up properly according to the manufacturer’s manual. An operator following the correct procedures for removing the load would ensure that the truck was safe and secure before releasing the I-beams from the mobile crane truck.
• Incorrect unloading of I-beams.
  • The exact actions the operator performed when attempting to unload the I-beams are unknown. It is known, however, that there was no written plan or procedure for unloading I-beams that were stacked on top of one another.
  • The operator may have been holding the remote control for the crane just before the incident. If he was holding it and unwrapping the I-beams, that contravened the requirement that a worker must not engage in any other work while operating the crane.
  • As well, the operator should not have been in the working area of the crane (near the load or under the boom) while operating the crane.

Other health and safety issues

• Prime contractor did not fulfill responsibilities. The prime contractor did not ensure that worker orientations and training or site orientations were conducted. The prime contractor did not take all reasonably practicable steps to establish and maintain a system or process that would ensure compliance with the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. Nonetheless, the prime contractor did not have the expertise to assess the suitability of any plan the operator might have had for conducting the work. So, it was reasonable for it to rely on the operator’s knowledge and experience with regard to the task of unloading the beams.