FEATURE | BELOW-THE-HOOK


WHO NEEDS HOOKS?


Below-the-hook devices come in almost infinite shapes and variety. Julian Champkin investigates both unpowered and powered attachments.


them, of fabric or rope or chain, but that is time-consuming, sometimes difficult, and possibly dangerous. But the great majority of loads come into one of not very many categories of shape, size and material, and for almost every load you can imagine there is some sort of specialised device to connect it easily and conveniently to a hook. These, not unnaturally, are known


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as below-the-hook devices. There are many different types, and many different manufacturers of them, but in general they are of most use in a production environment, where repetitive lifting of similar or identical loads take place time after time. Weight is another factor: UK guidelines suggest that 25kg is the maximum safe limit for a fit male to lift, but if the requirement is for repeated and continual lifting the limit should be much lower. In practice on a production cycle, where loads are heavier than around 10kg, manual lifting should be replaced by some automated device, for efficiency as well as for safety – and it will obviously be much more efficient, as well as safer, if the


ome loads come with convenient holes in which to insert a hook to lift them. Most do not. It may be possible to rig slings around


The DCV500 from Camlock has an arm that keeps the drum vertical.


Camlok’s DC500 clips on to the edge of a steel drum.


28 | April 2025 | www.hoistmagazine.com


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