TECHNOLOGY REPORT | SAFETY
In the US, ASME is the body that sets
standards. In the UK, the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations, commonly known as LOLER, is the relevant safety legislation. These, and other regulations in force elsewhere, generally cover the same ground. Most of the safety precautions for
operating a hoist are common sense ones: plan your lift ahead of time, make sure the machine is in good condition before you use it, do not make it lift anything heavier than its safe working load, ensure that the load is securely attached, and make sure also no one can walk underneath a suspended load. The regulations put these and other requirements into formal language and they add another one: make sure the operator is properly trained. In the UK that last requirement,
like the other LOLER directives, is the responsibility of the employer, whether or not he owns the hoist directly. Employees do not have specific duties under LOLER but they do have general duties under the Health and Safety at Work (HSW) Act and the Management of Health and Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 (the Management Regulations). These require employees to take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions, and to co-operate with others. The UK Regulations cover workplaces
where the HSW Act applies. These include factories, offshore installations, agricultural premises, offices, shops, hospitals, hotels, and places of entertainment. An obvious disclaimer here: Everything in this article is an outline survey only: it is by no means exhaustive. Any owner or operator of a hoist should satisfy themselves that they are complying with all relevant legislation, and are taking all sensible precautions, when operating a hoist. We have mentioned that the hoist must be in good working order. That means it has to be inspected. In the UK, inspections must take place at least annually, by a competent person, who must submit a report to the employer to take any appropriate action. If the hoist is used to lift people, that inspection must take place more frequently, at least every six months.
At 10am on August 05, 2021, an employee was moving material with a P&H 15 ton overhead crane. The employee was struck by the load while moving the crane. The employee was attempting to adjust the load, of 5 round steel bars weighing approximately 3,700 pounds,(1.7t) after placing the load in the nesting area. The employee was operating the overhead crane and during the work assignment the load became dislodged and struck the employee. The employee died from the blunt force trauma injuries sustained. No other employees were involved in the work operation. OSHA accident report number 137886.015 Employee Is Killed When Struck By Steel Bars
Fixed safety guards, clear markings,
emergency stop controls within easy reach, and equipment being well maintained are also mentioned in the LOLER document ‘Lifting Equipment at work - a brief guide’ – downloadable free from
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ indg290.htm. LOLER themselves summarise it as:
‘Safe lifting needs to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised and carried out safely. Any equipment you use must have been properly designed, manufactured and tested. Don’t forget maintenance.’
MAINTENANCE: Those last three words may seem like an afterthought, but they are not. ‘Unsafe maintenance has caused many fatalities and serious injuries either during the maintenance or to those using the badly or wrongly maintained/repaired equipment’ is how the LOLER guide expands on it. This is one area where digitisation, Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) has brought improvements. Big Data collection applied to information from sensors on hoists routinely now gathers data on weights lifted, speeds, hours of use, lubrication, wear on wheel rims and dozens of other parameters and sends it to software which collates and analyses it to produce predictive maintenance schedules – warning operators of parts which need repair or replacement well ahead of any actual failure. Another area where digital automation
has increased safety is in collision avoidance. No-fly zones can be programmed into the control systems
www.hoistmagazine.com | October 2022 | 41
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