Sunday, August 13, 2017

Things You Should Know About OSHA Crane Inspections

By Scott Baker


Cranes are machines equipped usually with wire, hoist ropes or chains and sheaves which could be used to lift and lower heavy materials and move them horizontally. They are using simple machines to create mechanical advantage allowing more load to be carried that humans cannot do normally. Industries such as construction, transportation, and manufacturing use them for different purposes.

Because of their many uses, they can get damaged or worn down when regularly used and may result to an accident. That is the reason you should frequently do OSHA crane inspections for your machine to have optimal condition and your workers are assured of their safety. Doing this will provide your employees of an environment which is more productive.

The government also requires this through their OSHA agency which incorporates industry standards like NEC, ANSI and ASME. This should be performed by an inspector with proper training and qualification to reduce accidents and equipment failure. Having them inspected will help make your legal fees more affordable because inspections were done and by a qualified professional.

Your equipment will break down less and would be more reliable which would result in an increase of productivity. There is a study that noted a sixty up to ninety five percent reduction of safety related defects within the first year since getting regularly inspected. They can even use a program for inspection which has predictive maintenance for more increase in reliability.

Hooks, wire, hoist ropes or chains need daily examination done by an operator while monthly one is done which is more thorough with documentation. If you only use your crane in normal service, they need annual inspection only while heavy use would need twice a year. Four examinations every year is needed for severe service which means they were used on abnormal environments.

These abnormal environments may include hazardous environments, moisture or dust laden atmosphere, corrosive fumes, adverse weather exposure and low or high ambient temperatures. A qualified professional will be designated to determine if the conditions during inspection are considered hazardous. And they will decide whether disassembly is needed for further examination.

Crane inspectors should have at least two thousand hours of experience related directly to functional testing, modifying, repairing, servicing and maintenance of cranes. They would not be allowed to do this duty under any circumstances if they have not received proper training. They must have the knowledge of codes and regulations applicable to the equipment that will be inspected.

Their training would include areas about codes in safety and design, state, federal and local standards and codes then safe practices for operating cranes. They should understand the terminologies to better communicate and then write reports and procedural documentation. Use of various words must be also learned to better understand their meaning.

Load testing is the responsibility of owners of the equipment and shall be done after the system is completed or installation is finished. Test them again even though the industry standard indicates they have been tested before being shipped. Others would also be affected by these inspections and not just your workers.




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