Rigging Accident (KV109)


What Happened?

Three employees were engaged in rigging work: the crane operator, a journeyman ironworker, and an apprentice ironworker.  They were tasked with rigging steel girders and placing them by crane on a structure. The girders measured 50 feet long and weighed 6,000 pounds. The girders were staged in an upright position in the laydown area. The journeyman rigged a girder and signaled the crane operator to hoist it. As the girder was hoisted, it contacted an adjacent girder, causing it to topple over and strike the apprentice who was placing rigging on another girder.

Contributing Factors

No taglines were used to help navigate the girder to prevent contact. 

The journeyman directing the crane operator did not have eyes on the apprentice to ensure safe body positioning.

What Can We Learn?


Using a Questioning Attitude towards body placement and surrounding hazards would have prevented any injuries in this incident.

Performing a Self Check would have caused him to stop and think about the worse thing that could happen before beginning the lift. 


Since rigging work is routine for certified ironworkers, the journeyman was likely complacent and succumbed to  Overconfidence.

Rather than working together to ensure a safe lift, the team was Multi-Tasking (the apprentice was preparing for the next lift instead of engaging in the current lift).   

Ask the Right Questions

How does this relate to our work?

Where do we have similar traps?

What Tools can we use to avoid a similar incident?

Was a stop work point missed?