With great regret, a friend at South Africa has informed me that a yard tractor operator at a Cape Town container terminal lost his life earlier this morning (20 March).

With great regret, a friend at South Africa has informed me that a yard tractor operator at a Cape Town container terminal lost his life earlier this morning (20 March).

From his information, which includes two photos (see below), we understand that an RTG somehow dropped its spreader directly onto the cab of the container moving vehicle... crushing the operator inside.

RTGs are typically fitted with secondary braking systems that act in a failsafe manner in the event of a hoist/lower braking function failure. Accordingly, it will be interesting to learn exactly what happened this morning.

I expect supplemental information to arrive later today.

Ron Signorino‎Longshore Safety