Mechanical lifting fatality

What happened?

A fatality occurred on July 7, 2022, shortly after 3 am at an oilsands shovel pad location.

A team was lowering a pendant cable assembly from a crane when the pendant cable fell resulting in a fatal injury.

Why did it happen?

An investigation into this incident is ongoing and it is premature to say what led to this tragedy. This alert reiterates proactive measures that should always be taken when performing mechanical lifting activities.

What did they learn?

Proactive measures:

Never walk or work under a suspended load.
Use proper rigging components and configuration.
Inspect rigging before use.
Use tag lines to control the load. If the use of a tag line increases the risk to a worker, use another method of load control.
Establish and obey barriers and exclusion zones.
Ensure all slings have a legible tag including size, length of sling, type of construction, name or trademark of manufacturer, and the safe working load.
Ensure that workers conducting rigging activities are deemed competent and qualified.
Ensure lifts are conducted with a lift plan as per the work permit, hazard assessment or work procedure requirements.
Ensure all workers involved participate in a pre-lift hazard assessment.
Review crane and rigging standards, practices and work procedures.

Ask yourself or your crew

How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?

What happened?

A fatality occurred on July 7, 2022, shortly after 3 am at an oilsands shovel pad location.
A team was lowering a pendant cable assembly from a crane when the pendant cable fell resulting in a fatal injury.
Why did it happen?

An investigation into this incident is ongoing and it is premature to say what led to this tragedy. This alert reiterates proactive measures that should always be taken when performing mechanical lifting activities.
What did they learn?
Proactive measures:
- Never walk or work under a suspended load.
- Use proper rigging components and configuration.
- Inspect rigging before use.
- Use tag lines to control the load. If the use of a tag line increases the risk to a worker, use another method of load control.
- Establish and obey barriers and exclusion zones.
- Ensure all slings have a legible tag including size, length of sling, type of construction, name or trademark of manufacturer, and the safe working load.
- Ensure that workers conducting rigging activities are deemed competent and qualified.
- Ensure lifts are conducted with a lift plan as per the work permit, hazard assessment or work procedure requirements.
- Ensure all workers involved participate in a pre-lift hazard assessment.
- Review crane and rigging standards, practices and work procedures.
Ask yourself or your crew
- How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
- What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
- How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
- What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?