Lorry Crane Topple

Fatal Accident Involving A Lorry Crane
A fatal accident took place at a construction site in early 2006 when a lorry crane was deployed to transfer reinforcement bars from a trailer into an excavation.
During the lifting process, the lorry crane lost its stability and toppled onto the bank of the excavation. The lorry crane operator was pinned by the falling rebars that were loaded on the bed of the lorry crane. He was conveyed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.



Advisory Note (Please note that the advisory note is provided for the benefits of enhancing workplace safety and health, in no way the information is to be misconstrued as implying any liability on any party)

1. Under the WSH (Risk Management) Regulations, comprehensive risk assessment shall be conducted for all work processes to eliminate or control risks. For lifting operations, risk assessment shall be conducted to evaluate the types of equipment (such as cranes) appropriate for the intended lifting operations, afterwhich safe work procedures to be developed and implemented for use of that equipment.
2. The primary function of a lorry crane is to facilitate the loading and unloading of materials/goods within close proximity to the lorry crane itself. Occupiers and employers should ensure that lorry cranes are used for this intended purpose.
3. The operation of all cranes and lifting machines must adhere to the manufacturers’ safety guidelines. If the crane or lifting machine’s outriggers cannot be extended as per manufacturer’s specifications due to space constraints, alternative methods like re-positioning the crane to a more spacious locations or the use of other types of cranes (such as crawler crane) without the need for outriggers should be considered.

Article from Ministry of Manpower, Singapore on OSH Alert, dated 30 Oct 2006