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Case No.20


Shoring being dismantled at an excavation site slipped while it was being lifted by mobile crane, crushing the victim between the shoring and the concrete structure
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[Circumstances of Incident]

During work to dismantle shoring at an excavation site, the load being lifted by a mobile crane suddenly slipped and crushed the victim.

At the time of the accident, workers were carrying out work 6.9 meters below the ground level to remove shoring from the piers of a bridge and lift the dismantled shoring materials to the surface. The shoring had been installed in four levels, and the work in progress was to dismantle and remove the shoring from the fourth level, which was the lowest. As the three levels of shoring above the working location were still in place while the fourth level was being dismantled, this hindered the use of a straight lift in the operation. Instead, it was necessary to move the dismantled structural steel in a horizontal direction to a place where enough lifting space could be secured.

Even after using a crawler crane to move the waling girders (6-m H-beams; edge depth of 40 cm; weight of 1.2 tons) one by one in a horizontal direction, it was still necessary to avoid the upper shoring in order to lift them from the excavation. When the workers started lifting a waling girder at an upward slant, the load suddenly slid about two meters in a horizontal direction. At the time, the victim was carrying out dismantling work on an extension affixed to the load being moved. He died when his head was crushed between the structural steel and concrete structure.
[Causes]
1 The direct cause can be attributed to the fact that the workers tried to lift a load slantwize by the crane. Because of this, the load slid a substantial distance, hitting the victim who was carrying out other work nearby.

2 Safety education covering crane operations and slinging work was not provided.

3 Workers were not made adequately aware of safe procedures for shoring dismantling work and of safe working procedures in general.
[Type of business] Bridge construction
[Type of accident] Crushed
[Number of victims] One fatality
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