Incident Description:  On June 22, 2004, a millwright was fatally injured when an overhead crane failed and dropped its load, an 85,000 lb draw die.  The crane hoist drum failed to operate, leaving the load suspended some 20 feet in the air.  Preliminary troubleshooting indicated a mechanical failure.  The millwright removed the gearbox cover, exposing the drum gear (bull gear) and the pinion gear.  He indicated to his partner that he saw a piece of metal caught between the two gears and that he thought he could pull it out.  His partner saw him attempt to remove the piece of metal and at that moment the hoistdrum freewheeled, dropping the load.  It is believed the millwright was struck by flying 3/4 inch cables from the drum, inflicting fatal injuries.

Equipment involved in the incident:  The crane involved in the incident was a top running, double girder, center drive electric overhead traveling crane, 50 ton capacity.  It was lifting a draw die weighing 42.2 tons.

Investigation to Date:  An independent third party was brought in to examine th crane components.  Upon examining the secondary gear box, it was discovered that the pinion gear which connects to the drum (bull) gear had failed and broken into three pieces.  All other power transmission components appeared to be in good condition.

All cranes at the plant were inspected.  Three cranes of the same design as the one involved in the incident were found to have a pinion gear with significant cracks.  These cranes were immediately taken out of service.  We must emphasize these fatigue cracks will not likely be discovered by conducting normal preventative maintenance checks on the gears.  Special inspection methods have to be employed in order to find these flaws.

Safety Reminder:  This incident is a reminder to each of us to always be aware of potential energy sources, such as suspended loads and that inspections need to be performed by qualified, non-biased inspection organizations.