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Lifting equipment
All the lifting equipments should be designed in such a way that it is safe to use under all conceivable operating conditions. The equipment should have the necessary safety devices, be well maintained, and should be inspected and checked at regular intervals.
Lifting equipment consists principally of :
Lifts (lift cages, platforms, buckets).
Lifting appliances (cranes, hoists, pulley blocks or other devices with hooks).
Lifting tackle (chains, slings, hooks, fork lifts, clamps, skips and similar equipment).
Lifting equipment must not be overloaded. If certain parts are stressed beyond rated capacities, vital parts may become worn and finally break. This wear may not be easily detected. Accident inspections frequently reveal defective equipment. Lifting operations involving lifting appliances and tackle always put the worker at risk.
The most common accidents are :
Pinching/crushing injuries when attaching or removing the lifting tackle and the load.
Injuries involving pinching/crushing when lowering the load onto the ground or the floor.
Injuries resulting from break or chain/rope failure.
Injuries caused by falling objects, e.g. when part or all of the load becomes detached.
Crane failure due to overloading.
Workers engaged in lifting with cranes should be supplied with appropriate protective equipment including helmets, footwear and gloves.
Periodic inspection with established routines must be carried out at prescribed intervals. These can cover e.g. the crane’s structural soundness and anchorage, tests to determine the strength of the chains/ropes, and lubrication and adjustment of the brakes;
Critical points for inspection and control are :
Overload cut-out for large cranes.
Limit switches for lifting gear and driving.
Units (prevents a load coming into contact with and displacing any object, or being itself displaced).
Brakes for lifting gear steering controls U hooks designed so that the ring or sling.
Cannot slip out.
Using lifting cranes and overhead travelling cranes
At workplaces such as shipyards, building sites and in the steel industry, cranes and overhead travelling cranes are used by different categories of workers. Often they do not know how the load should be stacked and slung.
Mechanical lifting outdoors may be made more difficult by the wind. It is important that work involving lifting equipment is properly co-ordinated with the rest of the work.
Always be on the look-out for falling objects. A crane operating above the heads of other workers always involves a risk.
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