Alert 12 – 11 Near Miss: Crane Contacts High Power Electrical Lines

Alert 12 – 11 Near Miss: Crane Contacts High Power Electrical Lines

WHAT HAPPENED:

To keep from causing congestion on the location, the crane was dropped off outside the location. The operator had rigged the crane up as a short boom. The crane operator, while being assisted by his rigger, then proceeded onto the location. While moving onto the location the boom contacted the power lines and broke two 21’ (~6m) high power lines. Fortunately there were no injuries; however, this could have been a very serious incident! The operator and rigger had apparently been distracted by other issues as they navigated their path and had failed to look overhead and notice the lines.