SAFETY IN CRANE OPERATIONS: AN OVERVIEW ON CRANE-RELATED ACCIDENTS

Abstract

Moving large and heavy loads in manufacturing and construction industries is made by means of cranes. Until now, much technology has been developed for these operations, but there are significant safety issues to be considered. Cranes are amongst of the most dangerous equipment used in both the industry and construction sites. Despite the risk awareness, incidents in crane’s operations have not substantially decreased; most of them arise from wrong load handlings, poor visibility in moving loads, etc. Their dangerousness has special relevance in the chemical process industry and the intermodal transport, where accidental events could also generate the release of hazardous substances. This paper focuses on safety in crane operations, the main causes of accident will be identified and a statistical analysis is presented with the aim to drawn some conclusions and comment about future trends of research about this issue