Chris Turner

Safety, Return to Work and Support Division

High Risk Plant Lessons Learnt

Specialist Support Group

Chris Turner State Coordinator

Engineering Advice

4 September 2013


Objectives

What is High Risk Plant?

Why worry about other peoples incidents?

Sources of information

Lessons learnt

FINAL 2 Commercial in confidence


What is High Risk Plant?

General meaning; not limited to WHS legislation definition

Plant with the potential to seriously injure numerous people,

including registrable plant and non-registrable plant, eg

• Pressure vessels, gas cylinders and boilers

• Cranes, concrete placing booms, elevating work

platforms and piling rigs

• Suspended scaffolds and building maintenance units

• Scaffolding, formwork and perimeter screen systems

• Amusement devices and lifts



Why worry about other’s incidents?

• Opportunity to learn without experiencing the incident and

its consequences

• An opportunity to identify blind spots in previous thinking

• A reminder to review practices as complacency may have

crept in

• Demonstration of compliance with due diligence

obligations under the WHS Legislation

• Preparation for a possible regulator (or client) intervention



Why worry about other’s incidents?

Identification of factors that lead to the incident

or could have lead to another:

• design deficiencies

• lack of information from designers

• unsafe usage practices

• maintenance issues, or

• More often a combination of the above, and

• Solutions • To remedy any of the above

• New technology that can be retrofitted

• Alternative plant or processes



Sources of information

• Media reports

• Word of mouth

• Internet – Google, industry incident websites, eg

• www.craneaccidents.com

• www.rideaccidents.com

• Industry contacts

• Plant manufacturers or suppliers

• Association or Union newsletters, e-mail groups, etc

• Regulators – websites, newsletters, safety alerts, etc

• www.workcover.nsw.gov.au


http://www.craneaccidents.com/

http://www.rideaccidents.com/

http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/


Extract from WorkCover NSW website



Extracts from WorkCover NSW website



Typical Lessons

Many incidents have multiple causation factors

• Design

o Defects

o Old, without modern safety systems

• Inspection and maintenance

o wear, fatigue and direct damage

• Repairs

• Common sense is not that common - it is unique to each

individual

• Operator competence on the specific piece of plant

• Misuse – deliberate or inadvertent

• Over-reliance on technology



Corresponding Solutions

• Pay attention to all factors as it may only be one that is

preventing your incident

• Upgrade plant with safety systems

• Be on the lookout for manufacturer updates/bulletins

• Deal with reputable suppliers

o if a deal is too good to be true it might be

• Inspect & maintain to manufacturer’s specifications and

repair correctly

• Provide training, instruction and assessment - don’t

assume operators know it all

• Supervision / review of practices

• Operators should understand the correct usage and

limitations, not solely rely on safety systems



Suspended scaffold incident

Two men painting from a suspended scaffold

cradle.

One end of the cradle failed resulting in the

platform swinging down and hanging vertically

from the other end.

Both were wearing fall arrest harnesses

One worker fell to his death, the other worker was

suspended in his fall-arrest harness until rescued,

relatively uninjured.




Lessons:

• Lack of bracing for the scaffold hoist mounting point on

one end of the cradle left it susceptible to fatigue




Lessons:

• Fatigue cracking at the base of the mounting point

should have been detectable for some time prior to the

incident

• A fall arrest system including a lanyard with energy

absorber (see Australian Standard AS1891 series)

should be used , and connected whenever practical,

especially when raising or lowering the cradle.

See WorkCover NSW Suspended Scaffold Safety Alert




(Part 2) The mobile crane called to recover the suspended scaffold

cradle from the above incident overturned.

No one was injured.

• The crane could not get into position for the lift so was

doing preparatory set up work that would normally be

done once in position

• As not in final position had not extended outriggers

• Crane could not detect outrigger position so believed

outriggers were out and did not stop the operation



MEWP incidents



MEWP Incidents

More than this one incident - Various lessons • Overturned due to:

• operating on a slope in excess of manufacturers limitations

• footpath pit cover failed and wheel fell in

• design did not prevent operating in a rearward unstable

configuration

• Design defects

• Maintenance

• Fatigue

• Incorrect bolt

• Contact with power lines

• Inadvertent control operation => crushed against overhead

structure

• Incidents made worse - not having fall arrest harness connected



Tower crane incident 1996

Structural failure

of A-frame.

Boom fell onto

two workers.

Both died.




Lessons

• Design issues:

o Larger boom with very limited capacity at max radius and load

gauge hard to read near max radius

o A frame subsequently modified

o Boom components heavier than considered in design and

therefore in determining load chart

o Manufactured before rated capacity limiters available, and not

retrofitted with one

• Maintenance, including repair

o Hydraulic controls jerky

o Weld in A frame brace repair




Lessons

• Operator inexperienced with the specific crane

• Windy day

• Site management issues

o wanted a bigger crane, but not available

o Provided the leaky smaller kibble

• Crane significantly overloaded, kibble & concrete

weighing 2.96t, crane rated for 1.5t at the radius




Luff rope failure due

to fire in engine

compartment.

Boom collapsed

onto the site.

No injuries.




Lessons so far (see Safety Alert – Risks associated with fires on tower cranes)

• Potential for fires on diesel/hydraulic and

electric powered tower cranes

• Communication between builder and crane

companies, re servicing intervals and repair of

minor defects

• Measures to reduce the likelihood of a fire and

to limit the potential damage

• Site evacuation plans



Amusement Device UK

HSE UK Media release 15 August 2013 re

prosecution result

• rope termination on “Parafan”, parachute jump simulator

failed

• first use after rope replacement.

• person fell 9m - broken back, 6 months paralysed from

waist down and foot amputated

• rope supplier used wrong termination component

(swage) and failed to operate their quality control

system

• Lesson relevant to other industries that use swaged

rope terminations



Questions?

(or lessons you want to share)

Commercial in confidence 23 FINAL

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Commercial in confidence

http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/

Business

Chris Turner