Overhead cranes are an indispensable part of many industries, used to lift heavy objects which workers couldn’t safely handle manually. Cranes, like most industrial equipment, can pose a risk to users. This risk is exacerbated if the equipment is used incorrectly or poorly maintained.
Crane safety has to be at the top of anyone’s mind who uses an overhead crane. A proactive approach to safety has to be applied across the board to mitigate equipment downtime and, potential injury to users.
Our crane experts have highlighted the top 6 tips which all businesses operating an overhead crane should be following:
The first thing to implement - if you’re not already doing so - is a thorough daily checklist to inspect the equipment.
From the floor, you should run through a series of visual checks to assess the state of the equipment. Checking at the start of each shift allows you to identify issues very early and - hopefully - long before they turn into a true danger to your workers. Crane safety begins with your daily checks.
Need a hand identifying what should be included in a daily checklist? Check out our daily checklist template here:
Clear visibility of your load at all times and clear sight-lines are vitally important. Double-check that you always have a clear line of sight of the load. This is especially true when using remote controls.
A crane is not a toy so don’t treat it as one. Accidents can happen and can sometimes be deadly. Overhead crane safety must be taken seriously.
The majority of crane accidents are caused by human error. Be it incorrect use of the cranes or even just inefficient use. These things often lead to crane safety issues, premature wear and, ultimately, costly downtime.
To provide optimal safety conditions, crane operators should be trained thoroughly on the tools they use. Operators should also have a detailed understanding of safe rigging techniques, load control (i.e. be able to anticipate and control load swing should it arise) and be able to recognise potential hazards at all times.
Investing in the training of your crane operations staff is vital to maintaining safety on site and ensuring that you’re limiting crane downtime as much as possible. The correct training of employees saves you money in the long-run.
If you’d like to consider further training for your team. Lloyds British offers substantial crane operator training and safe slinging techniques.
In combination with mandatory thorough examinations, you must undertake regular preventative maintenance. As we mentioned at the start of the blog, a proactive approach to crane safety is vital to minimising risk to your workers. A vigorous preventative maintenance programme can drastically reduce the likelihood of equipment failure and injury to workers.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to preventative maintenance. The rollout of any such programme should fit your work schedule - minimising disruption - and your equipment. Preventative maintenance will save you money and distress in the long-term.
Technology is always working to improve overhead crane safety. Retrofitting older equipment with newer safety features is an effective way to improve crane safety across your site.
Over time, electrical control systems and certain mechanical parts can become compromised, especially as stricter rules and regulations come into force. Upgrading systems in your crane not only improves reliability and safety, it likely increases the availability of parts should you need to undertake more comprehensive repairs.
Improved LED lighting can increase visibility whilst at the same time lowering power consumption. LED lighting also has the added benefit of being more focused which should limit glare and minimise any chance of your operators being intermittently blinded.
Another potential modernisation which can increase overhead crane safety is the addition of radio controls for the crane. Remote/radio controllers give your operators increased freedom as they’re no longer shackled to pendant control cables. Your operators can distance themselves from the load to better position themselves in a safer location, better able to identify hazards and react quicker.
Want to talk about modernising your equipment? Speak to us today.
At Lloyds British, safety is at the forefront of everything we do. Operating a crane can be a dangerous proposition and we support businesses with all their crane needs with a view to keeping their employees safe.
This is why we've put together these tips, which can play a huge part in protecting your workers, and why we've released our daily, pre-operation crane checklist. These list the checks which you should be completing before use to improve worker safety and crane wear and tear - helping you spot issues quicker.