Recall of Rough Terrain Crane and Reach Tower Crane

Komatsu Ltd. has decided to notify Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of a recall of its truck-mounted rough terrain cranes and reach tower cranes. The recall originates in the operator's wrong use of what is called a reverse steering switch that occurred in the past. The notification to the Ministry is accompanied by a set of trouble recurrence preventive action plans. The decision has been made today in its effort to assure client users of the cranes' safety so that they can continue the use with an unwavering confidence in the safety features. The rough terrain crane, and for that matter reach tower crane, too, allows an operator to normally run them even after the crane's upper structure (operator cab) has been swung 180 degrees in either direction. In that machine posture, however, the crane would turn the other way around, when steered. The reverse steering switch is a device that ensures right steering even after a 180- degree swing. In 1992, a rough terrain crane operator wrongly used this switch while he was running on a highway, which led to an accident. Immediately after this accident was reported, Komatsu took corrective actions, i.e. installed a cover over the reverse steering switch and affixed a warning label of "Use Prohibited While Running" on the cover both for the cranes in field and for new cranes, and at the same time alerted the crane users to the danger of use while running. As further heightened safety features, the new models in "WING" Series, which went on the market in 1996 for the first time, are equipped with an alarm buzzer as a standard specification and a safety device for preventing unintended reverse steering. Fortunately there has been no report of the same accident occurred after all these measures were implemented. All the same Komatsu has made up its mind to step up its safety-assuring efforts with those cranes which have no alarm buzzer in the shortest time. This is what has led Komatsu to the notification of a recall this time. A notice in detail will be soon circulated to the client users through Komatsu's distributor network abroad, quickly followed by remedial actions. Below shown is the outline of improvement measures Komatsu is going to take this time. 1.Target Model - Rough Terrain Crane LW80-1, LW160-1, LW200L-1, LW250L-1, LW250M-2, LW250-3 - Reach Tower Crane LT300-1, LT500-1 2.Time of Manufacture LW80-1: May 1992 through December 1995 LW160-1: September 1982 through October 1985 LW200L-1: December 1983 through June 1986 LW250L-1: January 1985 through October 1987 LW250M-2: February 1989 through January 1994 LW250-3: December 1992 through June 1996 LT300-1: March 1994 through April 1998 LT500-1: June 1995 through August 1997 3.Number of Cranes in Scope of Corrective Action 2,165 units (Note that this is the total number of trucks manufactured. The population of the existing cranes is 1,336 units.) 4.Contents of Improvement Measure (1)To install an alarm buzzer that sounds warning to an operator when the reverse steering switch is "ON". (2)To install a switch cover to prevent wrong operation of the switch. In addition, to increase the number of this switch to two that are activated only when both of them are "ON" (excluding LW160-1 and LW200L-1). (3)To install an alarm buzzer that sounds warning to an operator when either of the two

switches is "ON" (excluding LW160-1 and LW200L-1). (4)To install an additional relay that works to protect the auxiliary steering system from malfunctioning when short-circuiting occurs in its electric circuit (excluding LW160-1 and LW200L-1). (5)To affix a label of "Use Prohibited While Running" on the switch cover (excluding LW160-1 and LW200L-1). (6)To thoroughly train crane operators for the usage of the function of the reverse steering switch to ward off possible wrong operation [What is the counter steering function] This is a function to provide a crane operator with higher crane maneuverability when work at a jobsite requires the operator to swing the upper structure in the rear direction. In the case of Komatsu-made rough terrain cranes and reach tower cranes, there are two types of this function provided: one is a switch that is automatically activated when the upper structure is swung toward the rear (LW160-1 and LW200L-1): and the other is such a type that the function is activated only when an operator manually turns the switch "ON" (LW80-1, LW250L-1, LW250M-2, LW250-3, LT300-1 and LT500-1). If a crane operator wants to run on a highway, the manual type switch can be released by turning it off manually. [For further inquiries] For further inquiries and questions, please call the following contact point. Service Department Customer Support Division Construction & Mining Equipment Marketing Division Komatsu Ltd. Tokyo, Japan Phone No. +81-3-5561-2764, or +81-3-5561-2769 (end) Information in the news releases is current on the date of the announcement and is subject to change without notice.