Monday, August 11, 2008

Crane Safety

In Spite of what some folks think:
The Moon can't be hung by a crane!


Some companies' management think that calling someone who has a crane... tower, mobile or rough terrain, to perform lifting of materials on their job site that the Operator (many times just a "Lever Puller") and the crane's owner have done everything that is needed to safely perform all the work tasks needed.

Little do some of these management folks realize that so many crane owners or even ones operated by their "Lever Pullers" do not even meet the antiquated 1971 OSHA standards. Then when a crane falls or drops a load or other serious incidents on their job sites they wonder why!

Then the owners wonder why they can't get insurance on their cranes and liability coverage just because their operators are not certified.

Folks, at the current time, it appears that it will be at least two years before a new OSHA Crane Safety Standard will be finalized and placed into effect. In the meantime, cranes MUST continue to handle materials on your job sites.

My recommendation for keeping incidents with fatalities and serious injuries to construction personnel and the general public from happening is to "Take the Bull By the Horns" and train your crane operators, maintenance and rigging personnel. This can be accomplished by going to a specialty training company that can train and certify the personnel in the safe operation, maintenance and rigging of cranes and the materials they are lifting.

It is easy to locate these trainers. Simply do a Google Search for Crane and Rigging Training experts in the closest point to your location. A relatively few dollars spent preventing crane incidents is a VERY LONG way from all the costs involved with a fatality, serious injury and loss of equipment and high insurance costs.

Then, Maybe....., you may be able figure how to throw a sling around the moon to place it on the hook of your lifting equipment!!!







1 comment:

Unknown said...

Cranes are used to assist in construction work. However, these can also give you problems if not controlled the right way. Construction contractors should have well-trained crane controllers to ensure safety in the construction site. There should be no space for errors because lives are at stake. :)

Jesse Mcgraw