Crane Accident: Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks, Alaska
Alaska's Department of Labor has cited Sandstrom & Sons and proposed a penalty of $2,250 after a crane tipped over into the river while it was pile driving for a new bridge. According to the Occupational Safety and Health division of the agency, the crane's 140-foot boom was extended beyond its designed capacity with  a 56,200-pound pile driving hammer attached to the end. The hammer touched down on the outer edge of the 4-foot diameter pile it was attempting to drive and leaned farther out over the river, exceeding the manufacturer's lift capacity at the 50-foot radius, the citation said. "As the crane began to overturn, the hammer slipped off the pile and swung out over the river, pulling the crane over on its side," said the Occupational Safety and Health citation.

The safety fine includes $1,500 for exposing employees to safety hazards connected with the crane and $750 for allowing two employees to operate forklifts without having current certifications, the paperwork said. No one was injured during the incident.-NewsMiner.com