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Photo by AP Wide World A dropped load fell 30 stories, ricocheting off the step-backed building and landing on Madison Avenue. No one was seriously injured. Enlarge Graphic by ENR Art Dept. A cut sling was the cause of the dropped load accident in Midtown Manhattan last month, believes a confidential source familiar with the investigation.The accident highlights a vulnerability in rigging procedures. Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations identify the point of vulnerability, but the agency does not provide detailed guidelines.The accident occurred when a roughly 13-ton air conditioner was being lifted into place at the top of

Related Links: High in the Sky, Tower Rescues Require Skill Ironworker Crushed by Steel at Brooklyn's Barclays Center An ironworker and an elevator constructor were seriously injured and one later died after an external hoist cab fell three stories at the Partners Healthcare administrative building under construction in Somerville, Mass. on June 11.The accident occurred when a hoist cab unexpectedly pulled away during the assembly of the hoists on the building, said Boston-based contractor Suffolk Construction in a  statement.  The two workers were given first aid by Somerville police on the scene and transported by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital,

Related Links: Lifting Experts Teach Online Course for Rigging Engineers Crane Failures Have Industry Looking at Hazards Under the Hook A cut sling was the cause of the dropped load accident in Manhattan last month, according to a confidential source familiar with the investigation.The roughly 13-ton air conditioner fell as it was being lifted into place at the top of 261 Madison Ave., falling 30 stories to the street below early on Sunday morning, May 31. The accident resulted in only minor injuries.The load fell because the synthetic sling used to lift it in place was cut, most likely because

Courtesy Trinity Industries Court agreed with plaintiff's contention that in a collision, the altered guardrail could become a lethal projectile. Related Links: FHWA Says Controversial Highway Guardrail Passes Crash Tests FHWA Will Re-Test Highway Guardrail System Suspected In Deaths Trinity Industries of Dallas,  manufacturer of the controversial ET-Plus highway guardrail system, has been ordered to pay a $663 million judgment for defrauding the Federal Highway Administration. The ruling, issued on June 9 in U.S. District Court in Texas, is based on an October 2014 verdict of a False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit that found Trinity modified components of the ET-Plus

Crane operator Thomas L. Bales, 40, overturned his crane into a ditch near Elgin, Neb., in late May while driving to the construction site of Prairie Breeze II, a wind-energy farm Wanzek Construction is building for Invenergy, a wind-energy company. Arnold Jelinek, vice president of Fargo, S.D.-based Wanzek, confirmed the circumstances surrounding Bales' death, one of a gradually rising number of fatalities connected to wind turbines and their construction and maintenance.In a news release, Darwin Crag, acting Nebraska-area director for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said Bales had worked for Wanzek Construction for only 10 days."Even though temporary workers

Courtest NECA/IBEW Training for communication tower rescues that require specialized skills. PBS/Propublica Coverage of the tower accidents was featured in a Public Broadcasting Service-Propublica investigation. Responding to a troubling resurgence in communications tower accidents, union electrical contractors and workers this spring made communications tower safety and rescues a focus at a second Midwest location, a training center in St. Louis.The center is jointly operated by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1, and the St. Louis chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association. IBEW and NECA had already trained 75 journey workers in cell tower safety at a training

Photo Courtesy of Florida DOT Investigators are examining how much training was given to the driver of a load similar to the one pictured. He died while unloading a sound-wall panel. Related Links: Fatal Crash in 2013 Results in Vehicular Homicide Charges for Nashville Ready Mix and Its President Ironworker Crushed by Steel at Brooklyn's Barclays Center A fatal accident that occurred on May 14 on a Jacksonville, Fla., highway project is raising questions about training procedures and poor communication. A trucker delivering precast sound-wall sections was crushed by one of the 15,000-lb concrete elements as he unloaded his transport

Photo courtesy of JE Dunn JE Dunn Construction requires regular onsite safety briefings. The company says safety is ingrained in its culture. Related Links: Setting a Safety Precedent in a Frozen Environment Construction Managers Embrace 4D BIM for Safety What's the best way to achieve and maintain a low total recordable incident rate (TRIR)? The obvious answer is by preventing work-related injuries and illnesses from happening at all. But despite a contractor's best efforts to instill a heightened awareness among its workers, incidents still occur.The effect that an incident can have on a contractor's TRIR can loom large, particularly in