A very small percentage of tower cranes are involved in deadly U.S. accidents-only about 5%, studies show. Yet all it took this year was one big failure in New York City to turn them into a towering symbol of the hazards that hundreds of thousands of workers face daily on the jobsite. A disturbing trend of bystander deaths, inconsistent work practices and a fast-flowing Internet news stream is feeding public awareness, political pressure and intense scrutiny of hoisting operations nationwide. More accidents have followed a March 15 tower crane collapse in Midtown Manhattan, the deadliest in the country, with six workers and one bystander killed. It was a wake-up call to the industry and the public, exposing prob- lems of unsafe rigging, questionable training, loose oversight and corruption.
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