When it comes to mobile cranes, there’s no room for error.
There's nothing more satisfying than hoisting massive materials into place with the precision of a surgeon, but not every job goes exactly how you draw it up.
In fact, cranes were responsible for more than 300 construction site deaths between 1992 and 2006, averaging 23 fatalities each year. And with construction projects steadily growing, crane-related deaths have followed suit. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 42 workers died each year from a crane-related event.
Given these hazards, mobile crane safety should be a top priority for mobile crane owners, operators, and support staff. Of course, as complex as mobile cranes are, figuring out where to start can be a bit of a challenge.
This guide to mobile crane safety management is a great place to start when creating a mobile crane safety checklist and reducing the risk of injuries and accidents on worksites.
Inside this guide:
- 8 Common Mobile Crane Hazards (and How To Avoid Them)
-
The 6 Mobile Crane Safety Devices Your Crew Needs to Know About
-
5 Mobile Crane Safety Procedures To Keep in Mind During Your Next Safety Talk
8 Common Mobile Crane Hazards (and How To Avoid Them)
Before work teams can get started on a mobile crane safety program, they need a good understanding of the main types of mobile crane hazards and how to mitigate them. As you build your safety program, keep in mind the most common types of hazards a team is likely to encounter in the field.
1. Boom Failure/Collapse
One of the most common types of crane accidents involves the failure or collapse of the crane’s boom. This usually occurs when the boom is overextended, which can cause a complete collapse (especially with heavy loads). Overextension of a mobile crane’s boom can result in too much pressure on the crane’s hydraulic and mechanical systems, leading to a dangerous collapse.
Pro Tip: Use your ears! You should always visually inspect equipment before firing it up, but don't forget to listen to your equipment — it might tell you when something's wrong. Listen closely for unusual noises or unfamiliar vibrations that could indicate something's not right. And no matter how experienced you are, always refer to a crane's operation manual for maximum load limits.
2. Overloading/Dropped loads
As powerful as most mobile cranes are, they all have upper limits in how much they lift. Unfortunately, too many crews ignore load weight restrictions and try to lift heavier loads than that crane was intended for. Overloading like this can result in dropped loads and injuries or even deaths for crewmembers caught below.
Pro Tip: Before assigning a crane for a new job, double-check that the job requirements fall within the equipment's maximum load limit. Make sure the crew knows these limits, too, and never exceeds them — even if things change on the job site.
3. Power Line Contact
When it comes to crane-related events, the leading cause of death is electrocution by contact with a power line.
Even if no one gets injured, these powerline collisions can cause extensive damage to property, equipment, and infrastructure. And you've probably seen the kind of liability that cost the company at fault. In worse cases, power line contact can cause electrical shocks, dangerous equipment failure, or even death.
Pro Tip: Make sure crews renting your mobile cranes know to identify and mark all above- and below-ground power lines in their work site. Both crane operators and ground workers should know where power lines are before they start working. They should always follow OSHA guidelines for minimum distance from powerlines based on the line's voltage. If a crew does need to get closer than OSHA recommends, contact the power company to de-energize the lines and have them send an electrical technician to oversee the work.
4. Tip-Overs
Crane tip-over accidents are usually the result of environmental hazards and improper preparation. High winds and uneven grounds can force a crane out of its center of balance and result in a dangerous tip-over. This situation is even more likely when a crew fails to use outriggers properly or loads the crane beyond its maximum capacity.
Pro Tip: Never underestimate Mother Nature. Ensure your team knows each crane’s wind speed limits and how to keep track of wind measurements during the work day. Communicate to your crew that it's always best to postpone work in bad weather. Also, make sure your team has proper outriggers if operating a crane in windy conditions.
5. Falls From the Crane
Many mobile crane accidents occur when workers fall off the crane. These accidents usually happen when workers climb onto a crane system without appropriate safety harnesses or gear.
Pro Tip: Reinforce to your entire crew that they should never climb onto a mobile crane truck, no matter how convenient it may seem. Institute a no-exceptions rule for protective gear. Just as hard hats are mandatory, don't give your workers the option to wear a harness and use a lifeline; make it a rule. Make sure everyone knows how to use this equipment properly because an improperly worn harness won't do them any good when they're several stories high.
6. Structural Failure
Structural issues with a mobile crane often cause many preventable accidents. Crews sometimes use mobile cranes without performing necessary inspections or safety checks on the crane’s components. Any lingering mechanical or structural issue can quickly become a liability during operations and result in a dangerous tip-over, collapse, or other structural failure.
Pro Tip: Maintain and inspect your fleet regularly. RapidWorks gives mobile crane operators an easy way to submit digital vehicle inspections on the go, and automatically flags maintenance requirements when issues are reported.
7. Poor Ground Preparation
Using mobile cranes safely requires extensive ground prep beforehand. Safe mobile crane operation needs even and stable ground levels in the excavation area, which often requires preliminary work on the part of the crew. When crews try to operate mobile cranes on uneven or unstable ground, they can quickly experience dangerous tip-overs or collapses.
Pro Tip: Always verify that the ground on your work site is solid and flat before using a mobile crane.
8. Visual Failures
Like all heavy equipment, mobile cranes require clear and consistent visibility between crane operators, outside workers, and the surrounding environment. Many mobile crane accidents occur not because of structural failure, overloading, or unstable ground but because the crane operator didn't see a potential hazard or danger during operations.
Pro Tip: Having an outside spotter relay visual signals to the operator can go a long way in preventing accidents.
The 6 Mobile Crane Safety Devices Your Crew Needs to Know About
Mobile cranes have safety devices that help operators and ground crews prevent accidents. As the equipment owner, it's your responsibility to familiarize your team members with the function, importance, and proper use of these safety devices.
These mobile crane safety devices should be at the top of your mobile crane safety checklist:
- Overload limiters: As the name suggests, overload limiters prevent dangerous crane overloads by providing clear data on load weights and sizes. There are many types of overload limiters available today, so it’s a good idea to look into the types of limiters on your particular mobile crane equipment and follow the provided instructions on how to use them effectively.
- Height limit switches: Height limit switches help avoid dangerous overextensions of the crane itself. These devices often cut off power to the crane when it begins to exceed its maximum upper limit.
- Interlocking protection devices: These prevent other workers from performing maintenance or manual adjustments to the crane without the operator’s knowledge. Improper crane usage during these times is a common cause of accidents and injuries, so interlocking protection devices are a failsafe to avoid unwanted operation.
- Anti-collision devices: Anti-collision devices on mobile cranes often use high-tech lasers or other motion sensors to alert operators when a crane is about to collide with an outside object. These devices are particularly useful when working around powerlines or other hazards that may increase the risk of a dangerous collision. Buffers on the crane vehicle also serve as anti-collision devices for minimizing the force of impact in the event of a collision with an outside hazard or another vehicle.
- Wind protection devices: These devices mitigate the effects of high winds on the worksite. They can include wind measurement readers, such as anemometers, and reinforcements designed to provide additional crane support in high wind situations, such as rail clamps, windbreaks, and anchors.
- Lighting: Lighting is one of the most overlooked elements of proper mobile crane safety. Given the importance of clear visibility between the crane operator and all ground crewmembers, adequate lighting on site plays a big role in overall safety. Setting up sufficient lighting before operating mobile cranes — especially when working at night or in cloudy conditions — can go a long way in preventing accidents.
5 Mobile Crane Safety Procedures To Keep in Mind During Your Next Safety Talk
Once you've identified all relevant mobile crane safety hazards and safety devices, the next step is to overview all the necessary mobile crane safety procedures. Daily safety briefings like toolbox talks are great opportunities to share mobile crane safety tips with your crew.
Some of the best mobile crane safety topics to include in your daily safety briefings are:
- Equipment Safety Checklists: Review safety checklists for all the equipment in your fleet. This is especially important when you hire new operators or bring on new pieces of equipment.
- Electrical Hazards: Electrical hazards can cause electrocution, injuries, or property damage. Before operating a mobile crane, crews should always identify any potential electrical hazards.
- Load Planning: Improperly placed loads can create dangerous tip-overs. Operators must always keep each load’s center of gravity in mind.
- Environmental Hazards: Many accidents occur when a crew fails to take environmental hazards into consideration. Teams should check for outside elements that could add to the weight of each load, like debris or mud.
- Safety Devices: Safety devices are there for a reason. Remind crews to use tag lines for load guiding when necessary.
Effective mobile crane safety protocols require the best tools and communication among your crew. That's where software like RapidWorks can help. RapidWorks makes it easy for crane rental crews to submit equipment inspections and safety surveys right from the job site, and connects them directly to dispatchers so your entire team can work in sync. Schedule a demo to learn more about RapidWorks' dispatching, invoicing, and field management solutions for crane rental teams today!
