A ship repair company has been ordered to pay over £105,000 in fines and costs for safety breaches after a man was crushed to death.

The man aged 51, died at Falmouth Docks in August 2006. He was standing between a crane platform and the base of the crane when he was struck by the crane platform and killed.

The ship repair company admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and regulations for lifting equipment and was fined £85,000, and told to pay costs of over £20,000.

The crane platform at the site is suspended by chains from the crane so the man and other dock staff were assisting the crane operator to guide the platform toward the ship.

The incident occurred when the platform got jammed in the base of the crane and the man helped by his colleague tried to free the platform.  Unfortunately the platform became loose and crushed him.

The Health and Safety Executive said: “The ship repair company pleaded guilty to failing to introduce a safe system of work, especially with regard to the provision of sufficient information, instruction, training and supervision for employees using lifting equipment.”

This massive crane crashes during the construction of a new stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in US on July 14th 1999. The heavy lifting crane is attempting to move a huge piece of steel over the stadium when the wind causes the crane to collapse under the gigantic weight.

This incident claimed the lives of 3 construction workers as well as causing massive amounts of damage to the building.

It highlights the dangers facing construction workers each day.

Moored in a port in Harlingen, Netherlands is this amazing crane hotel. Guests are able to get to their cabin with the help of two elevators, the first elevator stops at the platform located in between the legs of the crane and the second takes them a beautiful fully furnished bedroom which used to be the machine room of the crane.

There is also a small staircase within the room that leads to the old steering cabin above. The guests can use the steering room at anytime and swing the cabin around for a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.

Breakfast is included and is delivered through an internal lift directly to the bedroom.  To stay at the hotel for a night will cost for around 319 Euros but do note that the hotel is booked around 8-10 months in advance so plan ahead for your thinking of booking for a special date.

How about this for a nasty accident, a crane is dragged over the edge of a bridge while attempting to drag a bus from a river. Even though the bus is almost out of the water, the crane cannot handle the massive weight of the flooded vehicle and is slowly dragged over the end of the bridge into the river below.

The crane operator escaped with his life which can only be described as a minor miracle. 

Lifting accidents are a lot more common that you may think especially in the poorer countries of the world who cannot always afford the correct equipment for dangerous rescue attempts like this.