Alert 09 – 01 Dropped Object – Crane Boom Lattice
WHAT HAPPENED:
A near miss resulted when a crane boom lattice broke off and dropped a 100 feet landing on the main deck. Fortunately no one was injured, although the severity rating of the near miss incident should be high because it could have resulted in a fatality. The crane was utilizing the main block to offload casing from a supply boat to the rig. It had also utilized the main block to remove a cargo basket from the rig floor. During one of these operations the fast line hook of the crane swung into the boom and hooked on to one of the boom lattices. While moving the cargo box the crane operator noticed that the fast line had disappeared so he decided to investigate. He had the deck crew report to the helideck so that they might be able to locate the fast line. The crane operator then began booming down to give his crew a better view of the upper boom. This caused the fast line to tighten and the boom lattice broke free of the supports. The lattice fell approximately 100 feet to the catwalk. It finally came to rest 30 feet away from the catwalk on the starboard pipe rack.