Electrical safety for crane operators and riggers

Beware of overhead lines; they are electrical power lines with several thousands of volts of electricity; they are not “telephone wires” as is often stated. Contact between cranes and an overhead power line is a major cause of fatal occupational injuries in the United States. Recent National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigations suggest that employers, supervisors, and workers may not be fully aware of the hazards of operating cranes near overhead power lines or may not implement the proper safety procedures for controlling these hazards. Data from the NIOSH National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) Surveillance System indicates that electrocutions accounted for approximately 450 (7%) of the 6,400 work-related deaths from injuries that occurred annually in the United States during the period 1980-89. This number was reduced to 163 by 2010. However, each year an average of 15 electrocutions are caused by contact between cranes or similar boomed vehicles and energized overhead power lines. More than half of these crane-related electrocutions occurred in the construction industry.