About Me and the Scrap Yard

Regular equipment inspections alone aren't enough to ensure safe crane usage around your facility. You need to make sure that your crane operators are properly trained on safety practices to minimize the chances that your work site will experience a crane accident. 

The following are seven things all crane operators at your facility should be trained to do to minimize the chances that accidents will occur.

Keep track of weight capacities

All employees operating a crane should be aware of weight limits. It's even a good idea to keep weight limits posted on the crane itself to make sure employees don't overload it. 

Notify surrounding personnel to stay out of the fall zone

Crane operators should be trained to communicate clearly with surrounding staff members to keep them away from the area directly underneath the crane load at all times. All nearby staff members should be notified when the crane is put into operation, and any personnel that is not needed in the immediate vicinity should relocate when possible. 

Inspect the crane's upper limit switch before every use

The upper limit switch is important because it is responsible for stopping the load block in an emergency situation before hoist damage occurs. Operators should make sure that the upper limit switch is operating properly before every crane use. 

Pay careful attention to the condition of rigging gear

A significant number of crane accidents occur because of issues with rigging gear. Therefore, rigging gear needs to be inspected frequently and promptly repaired or replaced if an issue is detected. 

Look out for possible obstructions before starting work

Crane operators need to learn to look out for any overhead obstructions like power lines before they get started with work. If obstructions can be relocated, they should be. If they can't be relocated, crane operators need to be constantly conscious of the location of obstructions and steer clear of them during crane operation to avoid accidents. 

Always ensure ground under the stabilizers is even

Stabilizers should never be positioned on ground that's not completely level. Otherwise, balance issues could results and a crane can even be put at risk of tipping over during operation.

Supporting the crane with the help of cribbing or outrigger padding

The more support a crane has, the safer its operation will be. One way to give a crane some added support is to use cribbing or outrigger padding. This will help to stabilize the crane and its load to prevent too much unwanted movement. 

For more information about crane inspections and standard operating procedures, reach out to local overhead crane services.