Several South Florida crane-related incidents have injured workers. Here’s what happened
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Fort Lauderdale crane plummets onto bridge, killing a construction worker
On April 4, part of a crane’s heavy metal framework plunged onto the Southeast Third Avenue bridge in Fort Lauderdale while it was being put together. A construction worker, 27-year-old Jorge De La Torre, was killed and three others were injured.
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South Florida is no stranger to fatal or harmful construction accidents as the region booms in population and real estate growth. A heavy crane piece falling onto cars in Fort Lauderdale, killing a construction worker, is only the most recent fatal incident.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Fort Lauderdale office has handled over a dozen crane-related incidents in which a person was injured or killed since 2004, according to its accident search site.
On Thursday, a piece of a crane’s heavy metal framework fell hundreds of feet onto the Southeast Third Avenue bridge. A man working on the crane was killed, and three others were injured.
READ MORE: 1 dead as Fort Lauderdale building crane fails, crushes cars on bridge
Nationwide, at least four fatal incidents involving cranes occurred last year, OSHA reported.
In 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report that listed 297 total crane-related deaths between 2011 and 2017, with an average of 42 deaths per year.
Here’s a look at some of those South Florida OSHA cases:
▪ April 19, 2004: An employee working in a residential neighborhood in Port St. Lucie was connecting wood trusses to the hook of a crane when he pulled the crane’s hook, and the line assembly touched a 13,000-volt overhead power line, electrocuting him.
▪ April 13, 2005: A worker at the Port of Miami cargo unloading docks was sitting in a folding chair in the wheel path of a 400-ton crane when the crane started moving and ran over the worker, dragging them about 20 feet and killing them.
▪ September 22, 2005: Several workers at a site in Martin County were changing a clamshell bucket on a crane when the wire they were pulling made contact with a 27,000-volt overhead power line. Three workers were shocked; one ended up in the hospital.
READ MORE: Two FPL contractors fall 100 feet from collapsing crane at South Florida wildlife park
▪ March 25, 2008: Six workers were inside a two-story structure on Bayshore Drive in Miami when parts of a crane became dislodged and crashed through the roof, killing two workers and sending the other four to the hospital.
▪ June 16, 2009: An employee in Broward County was walking toward a seawall being reconstructed when a section of the boom of a 1964 crane failed and fell on the worker.
▪ June 12, 2014: A 27-year-old worker was alongside a truck-mounted crane moving forward while carrying a load in a residential area in Hallandale Beach when the crane traveled over some uneven terrain, lost its balance and the crane’s leads turned over, crushing and killing the worker.
▪ July 21, 2017: A 54-year-old employee at Covanta Dade Renewable Energy in Doral was replacing a tine arm on the bucket of a crane used in a garbage pit when the arm shifted, striking him. He was hospitalized with a chest contusion.
▪ October 11, 2017: A 37-year-old worker employed by an infrastructure construction company was operating the boom of a truck-mounted crane on a Dolphin Expressway overpass near Miami International Airport when the vehicle toppled over onto its side, as it did not have its outriggers extended to improve stability. The worker was ejected from the crane and fell from the overpass to the ground. He was hospitalized with fractures to his leg and wrists.
READ MORE: Three cranes at South Florida construction sites snapped in Irma’s howling winds
▪ March 20, 2018: A crane company employee was working at a one-story apartment building in Pompano Beach when he fell about 20 feet. The 45-year-old was hospitalized and treated for six rib fractures, a detached jaw and ear, and internal bleeding.
▪ September 4, 2018: Two workers, 39 and 40, in Palm Beach County were using a crane to install concrete wall panels when the crane’s load line made contact with energized overhead power lines. The workers, who were guiding the wall panels by hand, sustained electric shocks of 7,620 volts and were hospitalized.
▪ October 29, 2018: A 68-year-old employee who was being lifted with a crane and a man-basket fell near Sweetwater when they lost their balance, fell and hit the concrete. The worker struck their head and was killed.
▪ October 14, 2019: A 45-year-old roofer’s helper working for a framing contractor in a residential area near Miami Lakes was on a crane’s telescopic boom trying to install a crane attachment when the crane operator moved the boom. This caused the attachment to fall, taking the roofer along with the boom and hitting the street. The roofer was hospitalized with fractures and bruises to his back, hips, legs and abdomen.
READ MORE: A crane accident shut down a part of Interstate 95 in Fort Lauderdale, fire-rescue says
▪ October 1, 2021: A 51-year-old crane operator at Covanta Dade Renewable Energy in Doral was resetting the pedal limit switch on an overhead crane when he caught his left leg in a part of the crane and fell. As a result, both of his legs were amputated at the thigh.
▪ August 26, 2023: A 32-year-old employee at an Edge Construction USA site in Miami was crushed by falling mechanical equipment that was being hoisted by a crane.
This story was originally published April 5, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
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