The investigation analysed 249 industrial overhead crane incidents that occurred over the past 10 years.
According to the study, a total of 838 Occupational Safety and Healthy Administration (OSHA) violations were committed across the 249 incidents, which caused 133 injuries and 133 fatalities.
The study found that the most common reason for overhead crane incidents were failing loads, which can happen if the load is unstable or poorly rigged.
As a result, approximately US$2.3 million has been paid in fines to OSHA, with other direct costs of the incidents including hospital bills for injured workers, damage to products and equipment, loss of production, and extra compensation.
Konecranes’ latest video reveals that over 70% of incidents take place during routine jobs, and suggests that the most cost-effective way of improving safety in this space is to have better operator and rigging training.