Incident Involving Aerial Sky Lift

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On 25 Jun 2010, at about 10.30 am, there was an incident involving an aerial sky lift in Kuantan, Pahang. Although there was no loss of life, the incident had caused severe damage to the section of the boom. The incident happened when it was used by 2 operators for cutting tree branches. Suddenly, one of the boom extensions of the aerial sky lift fractured causing the operator which was on the elevated platform of the machine to fall and suffered minor injuries. The investigation found that the boom had over-travelled which caused the machine to operate outside of its safe working zone. Figure 1 shows the segment of sky lift boom extension that had fractured.

Figure 1: Segment of the sky lift boom extension that had fractured

Precautionary steps to be considered during any operation involving aerial sky lift:-

1.	The owner of the vehicle should conduct a safety check to determine if there were any hazards, damages or leaks on the machine before handing over the machine to the user.
2.	Daily inspection on the essential parts of the hoisting mechanism to be undertaken by the operator from the user before putting the machine into normal operation.
3.	The daily check shall include but is not limited to a visual inspection of the vehicle exterior as follows:
	a.	any broken, damaged, loose or missing parts on the machine and its hoisting mechanism;
	b.	any bulge and cut and under inflation for the tyres;
	c.	any hydraulic oil leak for the hose connections;
	d.	welds for the hoisting mechanism and boom and its extensions that are free of crack and rust;
	e.	lightings for the machine(beam, directional and safety) are in safe order; and
	f.	ensure that all required decals and stickers on or around the articulating boom are in correct place, legible and understandable.
4.	Test lift controls daily, prior to its operation to ensure safe working condition.
5.	Ensure distribution of load on working platform and boom extensions are in accordance with the manufacturer’s rated load capacity and does not exceed the rated safe load limit.
6.	Require the presence of a person on the ground to warn the operator on the elevated platform in the event of any hazardous condition during its operation.

References:

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