Crane injuries or fatalities involving cranes in Ireland are thankfully are quite rare but they do occur from time to time.  The injury suffered can be severe and life changing.

Why Do These Accidents Occur?

Cranes as we know are designed to lift and move heavy materials and are a common feature on construction sites. The usual reasons for injury and fatalities involving cranes are as follows:

• Mechanical or engineering faults
• Assembly flaw of the crane by its manufacturer
• Error while loading or unloading the crane which might cause a crush type injury to an employee possibly trapping them
• Overloading the crane causing it lose control or clip buildings beside it or cause heavy objects to fall
• Insufficient training given to the crane operator or employees below. The employer has a duty of care towards employees which includes ensuring all employees are properly trained and if a lack of training causes an injury the employer will normally be responsible
• Contact with electricity lines
• Not securing objects correctly and as a result they become lose and fall hitting people below

Injuries Suffered

The more typical injuries suffered arising from a crane accidents can include:

• Crushing type injuries including fractures
• Head injury
• Brain injury
• Cuts and lacerations
• Nerve injury
• Back injury
• Spinal cord injury

Employer Obligations

The law in Ireland states very clearly that an employer must ensure when employees are working with lifting equipment such as cranes that the following are complied with:

Properly planned operation – all lifting activity involving a crane must be properly planned, supervised and carried out to the safest possible standards.  There must be a risk assessment carried out and appropriately trained and qualified people involved in the planning for and the lifting operation.

The crane has sufficient strength – it is essential that calculations are made to ensure that the lift is within the manufacturer’s tolerance and that essentially the crane is not overloaded.

Suitable crane is used – it is essential that the crane is fit for the job intended and that its design and load limits are within the lifting objective.

Safety Requirements – The employer must ensure that before a crane is put to use that it has the appropriate markings within its cab for the safe working load and that they are properly maintained, tested by a competent person and that the driver of the crane understands and can read clearly visible mark in the cab of the crane’s radius and its safe working load.

Our personal injury compensation claims solicitors

If you have suffered injury connected with the operation of a crane you may be able to make a claim for compensation. It is important you seek advice as soon as possible to protect your legal rights. We believe in putting you our client first and we are committed to achieving the best result possible while all the time remaining sensitive to your needs. Please feel free to reach out to us below and will be pleased to discuss your case and offer no obligation advice.

To contact one of our personal injury solicitors please call 0818 888 555 or WhatsApp/call 087 398 7386 or complete our online enquiry form