LIFTING EQUIPMENT
to meet a pressing deadline. The results are all too predictable.
In trying to tackle such problems, the UK benefits from a modern risk-based legislative framework, supported by some useful sources of practical guidance. The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) are the obvious starting point. However, it is important to remember that LOLER operates in conjunction with broader health and safety legislation, notably the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), the Health and Safety At Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety Regulations.
Human factor is critical for safe overhead lifting
ByDerrick Bailes, technical consultant, Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA)
W
ith a history that stretches back
hundreds of years, overhead lifting is an integral part of many manufacturing and maintenance operations. The rail industry is certainly no exception.
Much of the equipment involved is equally well-established, including electric overhead travelling cranes, slewing jibs, monorails, hoists, slings and lifting attachments. However, as such a commonplace activity, it is perhaps a little too easy to overlook the important role it plays - and the health and safety implications.
Overhead lifting remains a significant cause of death and serious injury in the workplace and, alongside the human cost, even relatively minor accidents can prove expensive in terms of damage to load, plant and buildings. For those charged
52 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 11
with responsibility for lifting operations, there are inevitably a wide range of challenges to address. Central to them all is the need to employ appropriately trained and qualified staff.
The importance of the ‘human factor’ reflects the fact that dangerous or inefficient overhead lifting can almost invariably be traced back to
weaknesses in planning and supervision, compounded by the use of inadequately trained staff. Straightforward equipment failure is relatively rare. Much more typical are situations where staff without any specialist expertise, faced with a tricky and unexpected lifting requirement, opt to try and make do with whatever equipment they can find to hand in an effort
One of the key requirements set by LOLER is the need to use ‘competent’ personnel for all overhead lifting operations. Unfortunately, inadequate interpretation of what actually constitutes competence is a common failure. Fortunately, invaluable and comprehensive practical guidance is readily available in the shape of BS7121, the British Standard Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Cranes, and LEEA’s long- established Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Lifting Equipment (COPSULE).
One of the priorities is to recognise that a number of disciplines are involved in overhead lifting - planning, supervision, operation, maintenance, test and examination – all of which require a different set of skills and experience. In recent years, many employers have implemented extremely creditable training schemes.
However, this is far from universal, and even well- intentioned organisations are too often guilty of commissioning training that does not have the rigour necessary to make a real impact
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