Crawler crane safety was discussed on the news a few years back because of some high-profile crane accidents in major cities. In response, OSHA, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, made improving crawler crane safety one of its priorities. At Buckner HeavyLift Cranes, we are proud to say that we have one of the lowest Experience Modification Rates, or EMR, in the entire industry, and we make safety a priority as well. We are proud of our EMR rating of .68 in 2015.

What Causes Crawler Crane Accidents?

When lifting heavy loads, an attention to every detail is critical. These details include creating an engineered heavy lift/rigging plan that takes potential hazards into account, suggesting the right heavy lift and rigging equipment for a particular job, and having qualified workers on the site.

Of particular importance are qualified individuals that travel to job sites to spot potential hazards or problems with machinery. These safety professionals can help implement safe lift plans and halt lifts until problems are fixed or paths get cleared.

According to OSHA, there are some common causes of the majority of crane accidents:

• Contact with power lines
• Overturned cranes
• Dropped loads
• Collapsed booms
• Outrigger fails
• Rigging failures
• Counterweight crushes

Other problems that OSHA research uncovered in the past included using the incorrect machinery for a task, not having a clear pathway for the lift, and defects in the heavy lift equipment. In some cases, crane were not carefully maintained and inspected, and crawler crane operators were not qualified to handle a particular piece of equipment.

Our Dedication to Crawler Crane Safety

We discuss past problems with crawler crane safety in detail. This is because the discussion and documentation of these errors is the only way to prevent them in the future. Here at Buckner HeavyLift Cranes, our most valuable asset is our employees and many of them are children of past employees. Buckner Companies values our business partners, the communities that we work in, and the equipment we provide. We demonstrate that by our commitment to safety, quality, maintenance, and productivity, the core values that represent the culture of our organization.

We employ full-time safety professionals, and provide safety supervision at large and complex job sites. Along with our safety commitment, we are also dedicated to completing difficult tasks according to or beyond our client’s expectations.