A PRECIOUS LIFE LOST BUT SOME SERIOUS LESSONS LEARNT

A hired boom lift arrived at a site one morning on a flatbed trailer. The site team immediately commenced preparations to unload it by rolling it down a ramp as per SOP. The boom lift for some reason could not be started – the first sign that all was not well – necessitating an alternate plan to unload it. A TFC 280- 75 T crane was requisitioned, and the lifting team decided to lift the boom down with the help of four web slings, each with a lift capacity of 5 T. The plan was approved by the P&M In-charge and the lifting team were all set to go.

“Special attention must be paid when developing an alternate plan especially if SOPs cannot be followed in potentially high-risk activities due to whatever reason,” offers M Kamarajan, Advisor (EHS), B&F IC. “Unfortunately, alternate plans are often hastily evolved with not enough time or attention given to check and verify all details.”

The gross weight mentioned on the equipment was 9.163 MT and the team blindly, without any verification, considered that weight for their lifting plan. This was a blunder because the actual weight of the equipment was 17.19 MT! “This is such a basic error and absolutely unpardonable,” fumes Stephen Phillip Storey, Head EHS – Heavy Civil IC. “The team should have double checked and verified the actual weight by simply referring to the product catalogue which comes along with the equipment. It sounds common-sensical but then the essence of a safe work culture is to do the routine things repeatedly until they become second nature for us.”

There was a disaster waiting to happen!

After a visual inspection of the guide rope, approximately 3.5-4 m length, and the four web slings, each 6 m long, the lifting process began.

The miscalculation in the gross weight of the equipment was immediately evident as the web slings started to strain dangerously. Suddenly, one broke and with the weight mis-aligned and too much to bear, the other 3 slings gave way too. The boom lift fell from the trailer hitting one of the workman on his arm and chest. Immediate first aid was administered at the medical centre and then he was rushed to the nearest government hospital but tragically his life could not be saved.

“Everyone is fighting against time at a project site and therefore it is very easy for someone somewhere to cut corners to save time,” remarks K P Ravinath, Head EHS – L&T GeoStructure, “Sometimes such accidents occur due to sheer time pressure and the reluctance of people to rigorously follow the clearly laid out procedures, which, ironically, are prepared by themselves. That mind set should be corrected and changed.”

The detailed investigation into this incident threw up some unsettling findings.

1. The first and most basic error was in planning the entire exercise on a wrong data point – the weight of the equipment.
2. Internal technical evidence (load capacity chart of the crane that was used for unloading) stipulates that
   it is not possible to lift a weight of 17.191MT at a load radius of 12 m.
3. The lift should ideally have been called off the moment visually it was obvious that the load was getting dragged and unnatural stress was being brought to bear on the web slings.
4. 4 lugs are used for lifting while 2 are for securing the equipment during transportation. The uncertainty of the lifting team to understand the selection of the lugs is one of the reasons for the instability of the load.
5. The operator does not seem to have noticed (or has ignored) the ASLI alarm – he could have stopped the
   lift if he had been alert enough to see the signs of unbearable stress on the web slings.
6. To top it all, as it were, there were no proper lifting plan, no risk assessment and no method statement for the exercise.

Surely, there should be NO action replays and in our collective quest for Zero LTI, here are a few action points that could have prevented this tragedy.

• Familiarizing oneself thoroughly with the equipment to be handled in terms of specs and nature of task
• The EHS system is based on the Plan – Do – Check – Act principle. Plan is the first vital step and therefore it is imperative to always have a plan and risk assessment. A proper lifting plan could have saved the day in this case.
• The plan will dictate whether the loads are correct, whether the lifting radius is enough, whether the number of web slings are adequate and so on.
• Visual detection of the first signs of trouble should be acted upon immediately, and the situation re- assessed.
• Unloading of such equipment is only down a ramp. In this case, more effort should have been taken to start the boom lift so that it could have been rolled down as per SOP.
• The P&M team must check and certify the competency of all operators & riggers on the relevant type of equipment.
• 3rd party certification training should be given to all concerned especially crane operators & riggers to enhance their knowledge, skills and competency to operate cranes and riggings

“It is only human to make mistakes and mistakes will happen,” says Malay Kumar Mahanta – Head – EHS, TI IC “but the important thing is to learn from mistakes so that they are never repeated, not at that project site, not in that IC, not in our entire organization. In fact, nearmisses are huge sources of learning and we should change our safety to make reporting of near-misses absolutely imperative.”

We, along with all at L&T, share our deepest condolences for the loss of that life and extend our sympathies to the bereaved family.