The owner of the company that manages the New York construction site that killed ? people and injured ?, called last week's incident a freak accident; however, crane disasters are nothing new.
According to the New York City Department of Buildings there were eight crane accidents and 10 crane-related injuries in 2007. A nylon sling holding up seven tons of steel snapped, releasing its cargo onto an office trailer and nearly killing an architect working on the site. There are 200 high-rise construction sites in New York City, which provide ample opportunity for more accidents.
Crane mishaps happen regularly, destroying, injuring, or killing anyone or anything that gets in the way.
In August 2007, a worker was crushed while trying to dismantle a crane and a 3,000 pound steel wall fell from a crane in Las Vegas killing four workers. In 2006, a very lucky New York cab driver was driving along when his vehicle was crushed by a 4 ton chunk of steel rigging that fell 20 stories from a crane. He escaped with only minor injuries.
According to The Daily News, New York's building boom has triggered a 12 percent increase in high-rise development and an 83 percent increase in construction-related accidents.
The demand for crane operators has spiked and contractors are constantly racing against the clock to finish jobs, leaving room for careless errors or missed inspections. Punishment for violations is small. The most serious fine against contractors averages $1,700 for projects that cost millions, even billions of dollars.
see: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4461628&page=1
