Summary:
A light vehicle was on a vehicle hoist in a workshop. It was parked in neutral and had wheel chocks applied. The hoist was raised to about 1.5 m for fitters to work on the wheels. They tried to lift the vehicle and found the lifting jack didn’t work, so the fitters then cycled the power to the hoist.
When power was reapplied the rear left-hand side of the hoist started to creep down (about 300 mm). The fitter operating the hoist was at the front of the hoist. The other fitters tried to stop the unplanned movement. The vehicle didn’t move on the hoist because of the wheel chocks, but a fitter was within 3 m of the side of the hoist that lowered.
Recommendations to industry:
Mine operators should review and keep no standing zones around plant updated whenever new plant comes to a site. A review of both electrical and mechanical maintenance programs should also be undertaken.
