Crane Falls onto Long Island Building

Crane falls

MELVILLE, NY – According to Abc7ny.com, a crane collapsed onto an office building located on Long Island. The incident took place on Thursday, January 10, 2019, at about 9 in the morning. An accounting firm is located in the building. Although 15 employees work in the building, none of them suffered any injuries in the accident.

The building was having air conditioners and heating units removed and replaced by a company called “MCN Distributors” when the crash took place.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating the incident.

The cause of the accident is as of yet unknown.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, crane accidents kill an average of 44 people each year in the United States. The most common cause of fatal crane accident is an object or piece of equipment falling and striking a worker. About 42 percent of these incidents occurred at privately operated construction sites. Another 24 percent of deaths took place in the manufacturing industry.

Many crane accidents could be prevented through proper training and use of the equipment. Only people trained to use this equipment should be operating cranes, and the device should be inspected by a competent and knowledgeable person. It is important that crane operators do not overload the machines, never move the loads above workers, avoid power lines, and set up the equipment on stable, level, firm surfaces.

Wind is another common hazard for cranes. These machines often collapse because of high wind speeds. When winds reach certain speeds, cranes should not be used because the risk of a collapse is too high, and the potential consequences too devastating.