Saved by the Cat's Meow

It's a fact that contractors don't spend money on things that in their opinion are a waste of time. Here is proof that when safety minded contractors put dollars in safety, they consider their dollars well spent. A few contractors may read this and shake their head in amazement that a contractor of this size is spending a lot of money to protect a fleet of 200 cranes. It is quite likely that we will soon see one of those non-believers in a future WCSN bulletin involving a fatal power line incursion.

It usually takes a series of events to make a contractor take drastic action. We don't know the history of events that led to this corporate decision. But it would appear someone figured out it was much cheaper to invest and install a fleet's worth of power line warning devices then it was to pay for even one crane to sit in the shop due to power line damage. Then of course there is the immeasurable cost of an employee's life.

Below is a message from our good friend Doyle Peeks of Craneaccidents.com regarding a large contractor in Texas. We have also included links to Sigalarm.com so that our readers can look at a Sigalarm unit first hand. On page two, we have included a link to a spectacular power line crane accident that one Willis client experienced several years ago. - WCSN

Posted February 5, 2002

I sure got good news today from a contractor, H. B. Zachry, of San Antonio, Texas. They are having the Sigalarm System power line warning device installed on all of their 200 plus cranes.

I was told that Sigalarm is giving excellent service, excellent installation and training.

In addition, it is now the company policy that any crane Zachry rents must come with a power line warning system installed.

The person I spoke with at Zachry said " The Sigalarm System is the Cat's Meow."

All of you have my blessings and support. You are to be commended for this great step toward saving lives.

-Doyle Peeks, Craneaccidents.com

It Could Have Been Prevented

The use and installation of a Sigalarm Power line warning system may have prevented this spectacular and serious accident involving a Willis client several years ago. The accident was so notable, it was made a permanent part of the Federal Osha website on electrical hazards.

Our San Francisco office had first hand knowledge of the incident as we were dispatched to assist with the crisis management and accident investigation when the accident occurred. The crane was totaled, and the operator was injured when he was forced to jump from the machine. He lived but did not return to operating a crane.

To complicate matters the crane fire burned through 10 " of new concrete pavement, which was on top of a "Styrofoam fill". It is a new construction method where huge blocks of Styrofoam are secured and a freeway constructed over the blocks.

When the foam blocks caught fire, they burned quickly; giving off large amounts of cyanide gas in the smoke that drifted over a nearby residential neighborhood. The neighborhood had to be evacuated and a nearby freeway was closed in both directions.

If ever there was an illustration of the need to protect equipment and people from the dangers of cranes working around power lines, this is the accident that makes that point.

And if there was ever a piece of off-the-shelf equipment that can save lives and protect expensive equipment, Sigalarm is the unit that can get it done. Just ask the contractor in Texas who is installing 200 units.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/electrical_incidents/cranefire.html

jim andrews affidavit.pdf