Construction Worker Injured in Crane Accident

A worker involved in a crane accident Thursday morning at the Annapolis Towne Centre construction site in Maryland suffered from life-threatening injuries.

As the crane was getting ready to lift ventilation units onto the roof of the Whole Foods building, a part of the crane either failed or broke, causing a large part of the crane to fall into the crane operator’s compartment and injured him, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Department Division Chief Michael Cox.

The crane operator, a 46-year-old man, was airlifted to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. Hazardous materials crews also responded to the scene clean up a hydraulic fluid spill.

The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health office is investigating the accident, stated Cox.

A fatal crane accident occurred at the same construction site on April 30, 2008 when a worker became pinned between two parts of a crane he was dismantling about 200 feet above the ground and was killed.