A recent accident investigation and safety enforcement in the Midwest illustrates the problem of “entrapment”—that is, when an operator of an aerial work platform is crushed between the machine and a nearby obstruction. In many cases, experts say, entrapment occurs while the operator is repositioning the lift; in others, the operator leans onto the controls and sustains a crushing injury or even death.
An Indiana judge has now dismissed safety violations against Chicago-based Walsh Construction arising from the 2012 death of an employee working on the Milton-Madison Bridge in Indiana. Based on evidence provided by Walsh, the judge ruled that the worker was properly trained and supervised in operation of the boom lift that pinned him against an overhead piece of the bridge.
The accident occurred in April 2012 when Roger Cox, a 50-year-old union journeyman carpenter and welder hired by Walsh in 2011, was operating the JLG model 860SJ telescopic boom lift to perform weld bracing. The lift became pinned against the underside of the bridge, which spans the Ohio River between Indiana and Kentucky and Cox was found unresponsive in the lift basket. He died four days later.