Two injured in boom accident

Two men were injured Monday evening when the basket and boom of a Genie Z-135/70 they were working in “dropped” about 30 feet, sources report. The men were working on a cell phone tower in Kingston, MA about 135 feet in the air when eye witnesses said the basket and boom of the Z-135/70 fell quickly and then halted, possibly due to safety systems on the lift. The men, who were wearing fall protection equipment, were left dangling from the basket until the Plymouth Fire Department came to the rescue. No serious injuries were reported, and the names of the workers have not been released.

According to local sources, OSHA is investigating the incident and Genie told ALH it “is aware of the incident and is investigating.”

The incident occurs just roughly a year after a fatal accident involving the tipover and collapse of a Genie Z-135/70 in Buckinghamshire, UK, killing the operator. As a result of the death, Kimberly Access, which owned the boom, grounded its fleet of Genie Z-135/70 booms from June 2013 until May 2014. After an extensive investigation by both Kimberly Access and the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, Kimberly put its fleet back into service after it devised a new safety system and handover procedure for the booms.

ALH has not been able to source which rental company owned the boom lift.