American NFP, National Safety Council, has released a new report summarising the findings of a survey of certified crane operators and inspectors regarding safety in the crane industry.
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The report, delivered in partnership with crane safety organisation NCCCO Foundation, outlined the most hazardous situations workers felt they were exposed to and the main causes (situational risks) and contributors (systemic risks) to workplace injuries.
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Participants reported working at heights, vehicle-pedestrian interactions, and loading and unload materials as the hazardous situations they were most likely to be exposed to on the job. According to the key findings from the report, the two most common situational risks directly causing injuries were falls from height and being struck by a falling object, with the two most common systemic risks contributing to injuries being heat stress and fatigue.
“The NCCCO Foundation welcomed the opportunity work with the National Safety Council on a research project that we believe will have a positive impact on the safety of everyone working in and around cranes”, said T.J. Cantwell, NCCCO Foundation Executive Director.
“The National Safety Council’s research expertise combined with the NCCCO Foundation’s knowledge of the crane industry allowed us to design a survey that resulted in a significant amount of new and useful data on the hazards that face those in the industry every day.”
On top of the risks identified, the report also sought to examine workers’ use and perceptions of safety technology solutions used to eliminate or mitigate these risks. Overall, the report found that the use of safety technology to be “fairly” low, with the most commonly used being proximity sensors, wearables for vital signs monitoring, and drones.
The safety in the crane industry report, titled ‘Understanding the Current State of Safety Hazards in the Crane Industry’, is part of the National Safety Council’s ‘Work to Zero’ initiative, and can be read in full here.