T raining I nformation P romoting S afety Weekly Safety Training “Fly Away” TIPS for the week of February 7, 2005

Recently, an employee was injured while changing cutting edges on a scraper. The hook came loose and flew a short distance, striking the person in the head. Full recovery is expected, but we need to learn from this accident to prevent a “Flying Hook” reoccurrence.

After careful investigation and analysis, this reenactment demonstrates what we believe happened. Here you see a hook in an eyebolt, properly tensioned and connected.

Here you see the same connection with the chain allowed to go slack. In the accident, the eyebolt was attached to the cutting edges, and the edges were also lowered to create this same slack position.

In this picture, an overhead crane is lifting the chain, and you see the hook rotate. Again, no one saw the hook rotate into this position, but we believe this is what happened.

As the chain goes up, the eyebolt actually opens the safety latch. The latch is only partially open, but that’s enough.

As more tension is applied, the hook slides, opening the latch even further.

With the hook completely released, we believe it caught on the side of the eyebolt.

The key lessons to be learned: Check and recheck all rigging before and during each lift. Stand well back from all lifts, and if guidance is necessary, use a tagline. Before making a lift, make sure the rigging is safe and the appropriate type for the lift.

Most importantly… When making this type of lift, as you snug up the load, make sure the rigging is in the proper location. Don’t ASSUME, make sure the eyebolt is properly cradled in the hook before the lift begins!