Safety doesn't just happen; you must recognize the potential hazards, then work to mitigate them. With cranes, the biggest risks include tipovers, electrocution and bystanders getting crushed by loads.

"For mobile cranes, the leading cause of accidents is the tipover," says LeRoy LaMar, trainer for Arxcis, Inc. "Improper crane setup is the primary cause."

Ingo Schiller, vice president of sales, Liebherr Cranes, Inc. reports that as many as 80% of crane tipover accidents are caused by either insufficient support for the crane, or failure of the ground to support the crane. "A lot of the cranes are used in urban environments," he adds. "There are cases where they set up cranes on top of a concrete collection point for a sewer system and it punches through. There is a void under the ground, the outrigger is set on top of it and it goes through."

Improper operation is another factor. "More tipovers occur with smaller cranes, such as rough-terrain cranes and boom trucks, than with larger all-terrain cranes. One of the reasons is that owners of the larger cranes are more selective of who is operating the crane," LaMar notes. "The smaller cranes, especially the boom trucks, are often operated by workers with little training or experience and the result is often the crane tipping over."

Check ground conditions
Ensuring proper ground support goes a long way toward preventing tipovers. You need to know what is under the ground. "Most large cities require a survey and an engineering company to come out and determine where to set up the cranes," says Schiller. "They have to do research and see what is underground. Every once in a while, something is not where it is supposed to be."