Staying Safe And Completing The Job - Addressing Misconceptions In Overhead Crane Safety
If you have a construction project that requires the use of an overhead crane, you need to be prepared for operating that crane safely. Unfortunately, over the years, many misconceptions about crane operations have worked their way into the construction lexicon, and you could find yourself unknowingly becoming a victim of serious and dangerous misinformation.
Below, you'll find a guide to some common misconceptions about crane safety and the steps you should take to address them. By keeping this information in mind, you can guarantee that you finish your project on time while also avoiding the risk of injury or loss of life that can accompany ignorance and misinformation.
Overloading
Many people believe that a crane is designed with fail safes that will prevent a load that is too heavy from being lifted. While it may surprise you to learn that a crane can begin to lift a load that is too heavy for it to handle, the real danger in large amounts of weight will often come as the weight shifts.
Rather than relying on the lifting power of the crane to determine how large your loads should be, you should instead strictly follow the published guidelines for your equipment. Working in smaller, lighter batches will also likely have the benefit of compartmentalizing your construction tasks and allowing you to work more efficiently.
Height Limits
If you're lifting equipment or materials to the extreme heights of the crane, you're likely putting yourself unnecessarily at risk. Your crane's height limit is designed to prevent delicate components of the crane from colliding with each other, and should not be trusted as a guideline for how high loads can be lifted.
While it's important to make sure you're guaranteeing clearance from the surrounding structures, it's a good safety practice to keep your loads as low as possible. This will mitigate the chance of your crane tipping and will also allow you to operate much more quickly and with more fuel efficiency.
Daily Inspections
It's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that just because a piece of equipment worked fine one day, it will continue to work fine the next. Unfortunately, in the case of overhead cranes, this is a mistake that won't have any consequences until it's too late and a situation becomes dangerous. You should be sure to inspect your crane for potential damage and weakness every day, as crane accidents are extremely serious and can be nearly impossible to recover from. Talk to experts like http://wazeeco.com/ for more information.
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