SAFETY


Case Study 1: At 8:00am on 15 July 2024, an employee was moving a stamping die with an overhead crane. The employee had not tightly secured at least one of the four eyebolts into the die. As the employee was lifting/moving the die with an overhead crane, one of the eyebolts came out of the die, which caused it to shift, and a corner of the die struck the ground. Following this, the top half of the die came off the bottom half and stuck the employee, ultimately landing on top of his body. The employee was killed.


use of the rope would constitute a safety hazard,” states OSHA. It goes on to list some of the conditions that could lead to loss of rope strength. They include broken wires, worn outside wires, corroded or broken wires at end connections and severe kinking, crushing, cutting or unstranding. The accident report does not say which of these led to the wire rope failing, but it may be presumed that the ‘thorough inspection’ that should have been made ‘at least once a month’, and the accompanying certification record, should have spotted it. OSHA regulation 910.179(n)(3)(ii)(c) says:


“The hook shall be brought over the load in such a manner as to prevent swinging.” In the fourth of our fatal accidents, this clearly was not done.


US rules for safety in lifting are laid down by OSHA. In the UK, PUWER and LOLER are the regulatory bodies. Organisations such as LEEA in addition have produced best practice guidelines. The LEEA Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Lifting Equipment (with the acronym COPSULE) can be downloaded for free from their website. It is a very complete document and it runs to 422 pages. The chapters and sections cover topics such as Bridge and Gantry Cranes, Hand Operated Chain Hoists, Hand Operated Chain Lever Hoists, Lifting and Pulling Machines, Power Operated Hoists, Winches Used for Lifting Purposes and very many more. It also covers slings – chain slings, wire rope slings, flat Woven webbing slings, man-made fibre round slings as well as clamps, lifters, eyebolts, rigging screws and so on. The current edition, the ninth, was revised in January 2024. LEEA have also produced a rather handy


printed pocket guide, which references best practice and key information from the


above 422 pages, together with additional information. It is A6 size, which makes it easy to carry about on-site, and is intended as a working tool for the competent person responsible for planning, pre-use checking and rigging of lifting equipment to carry with them and use as an immediate source of reference. The HSE in the UK do not collate accident


reports in the same format as the OSHA examples we have quoted above. They do however give statistical breakdowns of accident rates, from which we can extract the following: “One hundred and twenty-four workers


were killed in work-related accident in the UK in 2024/5. One would imagine that heavy industry would be one of the more hazardous areas of endeavour. Yet heavy industry, and the heavy lifting that goes with it, were by no means the leading cause of fatal accidents


in the year in question. Construction, with 35 fatalities, and agriculture, forestry and fishing, with 23 in total, took those unenviable places. There were 11 deaths in manufacturing – much heavy industry would be classed as manufacturing; transportation and storage had 15, (there may have been lifting-related incidents there also); and ‘Administrative and support services’ (13) and the HSE category ‘wholesale, retail, motor repair, accommodation and food’ had 12 fatalities. Heavy industry, therefore, seems by comparison to be rather safer than construction, agriculture, forestry or deep-sea fishing. It’s not hard to find out why – construction


sites are places of wind, weather, mud. They are crossed by open trenches and excavations, and are frequented by ever-changing groups of workforces from a multitude of differing contractors and trades. They are hazardous environments that are in the process of being turned into safer ones but have not yet got there. Agriculture and forestry are similarly exposed, with heavy machinery and exposed operatives working often on steep slopes that are almost by definition muddy, slippery and unpaved. Even the most hazardous of industrial heavy lifting cannot compare in danger with a tree surgeon climbing a tall and possibly branch-shedding tree with a live chain saw in his hand.


Following safety rules and procedures is essential to avoid accidents, some fatal.


Case Study 2: At 9:50am on 28 June 2024, Employee #1, employed by a manufacturing company, was conducting a material lift using an overhead crane. During the lift, an 880lbs piece of steel material became loose from the rigging, striking and falling onto Employee #1. Emergency services were called and personnel arrived on the scene to free the employee. The employee was airlifted for medical treatment but later died from their injuries. The cause of death was determined by Harris County Forensics to be blunt trauma to the chest.


32 | November 2025 | www.hoistmagazine.com


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