Sunday, April 20, 2014

A Look At Overhead Crane Inspections

By Essie Osborn


In construction fields there is a variety of activities taking place with different kinds of tools and equipments being used simultaneously. A crane happens to be amongst the most valuable machines that are used in construction areas. According to statistics, a big number of accidents in such sites are related to hoists in one way or another. Accidents may result into loss of people and also huge damages to property. This ascertains as to why every constructor should ensure overhead crane inspections are performed as required.

With technology advances, manufacturers are now able to come up with stronger and more stable lifting equipment using lighter materials. There have been many improvements on effective radius, utility, capacity and speed to a level that it is unavoidable to have a crane in a site where building is taking place. This means that all stakeholders in the construction industry are supposed to have proper understanding of appliances used in lifting. Inspections are carried on these machines to ensure that they perform within the allowed specifications so that safety is guaranteed.

As a result of significant advances in the technology involved in lifting, inspection professionals need to keep in phase with modern hoist mechanisms and operating processes. This will assist them identify problems before unsafe conditions result to disasters that lead to injuries and destruction of equipment. It will also enable them remain relevant to the modern building environment.

Poor preventive maintenance as well as inadequate experienced workers is the main cause of disasters related to mechanical failures. Through regular inspections on hoists, as stated by the regulations, it will be possible to point out unsafe condition so as to take the necessary action in time. Operations safety will also be guaranteed if preventive assessments are done as it is outlined by the manufacturer of a given appliance.

Lifting machines are made for either general use or for specific applications. As it is with the vast machinery industry, hoists manufacturers make like models for a similar purpose, mostly with sizes of machinery that are different. Every model or size of crane made has its own kind of operating controls and need specialized operator coaching, individualized inspection techniques, and different maintenance methods.

According to the current standards, all operators and other personnel applying cranes should have knowledge on the basic capabilities, specific site regulations as well as limitations. All the workers should be ready to participate in ensuring there is operations coordination as required by the machines inspector. Inspection work involves observing how the workers are responding to site coordination requirements and specified loading capacity.

All contractors are required to obey the specifications provides by the producer of the equipment. If no such information, then a qualified engineer should be hired to determine the limitations to be observed. The inspector is supposed to state where signs indicating operating speeds and rated load capacities should be placed.

Cranes operate under different conditions and a manufacturer may not tell you the exact duration between two consecutive inspections. What the manufacturer gives the buyer of a machine are minimum intervals when the appliance operates on average circumstances. For equipment that is used more frequently, then so should be the inspection intervals.




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