21 Safety Points for Lifting and Hoisting Operations

Lifting is a high-risk operation, so safety operating regulations must be strictly followed to ensure the safety of personnel and property. The following are the key points for safe operation of lifting:

1. Safe standing position

During the hoisting operation, it is very dangerous to stand under the boom, under the hoisted object, in the front area of ​​the hoisted object, in the triangle area of ​​the guide pulley steel rope, around the fast rope, or in the direction of force of the inclined hook or guide pulley. Once the danger occurs, it is very difficult to avoid it. Therefore, the position of the staff is very important. Not only should they pay attention to it at all times, but they also need to remind each other and check and implement it to prevent accidents.

2. Correctly understand the safety factor of slings

During lifting operations, workers do not have a correct understanding of the safety factor of slings and often use them continuously, causing overweight operations to always be in a dangerous state.

3. During the demolition operation, you must be foreseeable about the various factors you may encounter.

For example: object weight estimation, thoroughness of cutting, increased load due to compression of demolished parts, forced lifting of joints without inspection, etc.

4. Eliminate erroneous operations

Lifting operations are different from many construction projects. They involve a wide range of areas and often use cranes of different types from different units. Differences in daily operating habits, performance, and command signals can easily lead to erroneous operations, so be especially careful.

5. The objects being hoisted must be tied firmly

When hoisting and dismantling at high altitude, the objects being hoisted should be “locked” instead of “hooked”; the sharp edges of the objects being hoisted should be “padded”.

6. The rope around the drum is not tight

When lifting and dismantling large items, the steel rope around the drum of the crane or motorized winch is arranged loosely, causing the fast rope under heavy load to be squeezed into the rope bundle, causing the fast rope to shake violently and easily become unstable. As a result, it is often dangerous to continue working, but it is difficult to stop.

7. The temporary nose is not welded firmly

(1) The temporary nose is not welded firmly. The welding strength is not strong enough here, which means that due to the rust on the surface of the welding base material, the rust spots are not completely removed before welding, resulting in the appearance of the weld being beautiful and plump, but the weld and the base material are not melted together at all. When the load increases or it is impacted, it breaks.

(2) The nose is subjected to a single force direction. When lifting or laying down a long cylindrical object, the force direction of the nose changes with the change of the angle of the object. This situation is not considered enough in the design and welding of the nose, resulting in the defective nose suddenly breaking (breaking) during the lifting operation. In this case, it is necessary to weld vertical plates on both sides of the nose in advance. The size and thickness of the vertical plates are best designed by technicians.

(3) The nose welding material does not match the base material and is welded by informal welders.

8. Improper selection of lifting tools or lifting points

There is a lack of theoretical calculations when setting up lifting tools or using pipes, structures, etc. as lifting points to lift objects. The lifting tools or pipes and structures estimated by experience have insufficient bearing capacity or partial bearing capacity, resulting in instability in one place, leading to overall collapse.

9. Improper selection of pulleys and ropes

When setting up lifting tools, there is insufficient understanding of the changes in the forces on the pulleys and ropes tied to the pulleys due to changes in the angle of the fast rope. The tonnage of the guide pulley is too small, and the ropes tied to the pulleys are too thin, which causes the ropes to break and the pulleys to fly after being overloaded.

10.Unloaded slings accidentally hook objects

Many accidents happen like this: the lifting work has been completed, and when the hook is running with an empty rope sling, the sling in a free state hooks and pulls the unhooked object or other objects. If the operating driver or commander does not react in time, an accident will occur in an instant, and this type of accident has very bad consequences for the operators and the lifting equipment.

11. The lifting and hoisting construction plan is out of touch with the actual operation

The main manifestations are incomplete content, lack of necessary data or construction methods that are inconsistent with actual operation conditions, making the construction plan a shield to deal with the inspection of superiors, but not playing a role in guiding construction.

12. Suspended objects in the air are not sealed with safety ropes for a long time

Some equipment or components need to be suspended in the air before being fixed in place due to the installation process requirements, and some suspended objects stay in the air for a long time. If there is no safety rope, once they are damaged by accidental vibration, impact or welding wire, the suspended objects will fall, which will have serious consequences.

13. Unclear handover of processes or loopholes in the balance of construction processes of multiple units

For example, some structures or platforms are dismantled in the previous shift but the handover is unclear after the next shift. Wang Wu does not know whether the shed built by Zhang San can be used. Unit A cuts off the platform beam while Unit B continues to put heavy objects on the platform, causing the temporary support to be overloaded. As a result, problems occur, but we still don’t know what happened.

14. Construction was too busy to confirm progress

No underground consultation was conducted on the crane station; the weight of the hoisted object was not confirmed accurately before the operation, and the hidden dangers such as high-voltage lines, operating equipment, coal-oxygen pipeline leakage points in the surrounding environment and the safety warning signs of the owner unit were not discovered in time, resulting in great losses.

15. Using slings with “defects”

Some people use a rope buckle just to save trouble, but they don’t know that it is a discarded rope buckle thrown away by others. Some have internal injuries, some have been partially annealed, and some have been welded, and these defects and problems are not easy to check out; some people buy unqualified slings such as pulleys and rings produced by informal manufacturers for cheapness, which makes workers nervous when working. In order to ensure construction safety, please do not use rope buckles thrown away by others, cut off damaged and scrapped rope buckles in time to prevent others from misusing them; do not buy slings produced by informal manufacturers.

16. Using hemp rope as a safety rope

Because the load-bearing capacity of hemp rope is far inferior to that of steel rope, and hemp rope is easily damaged and reduces its tensile strength during daily storage and use, using hemp rope as a safety rope does not play a safety role, but instead makes people psychologically dependent and causes accidents.

17. No warning zone

No safety warning zone was set up in time and no safety supervisor was arranged in the dangerous area below the large lifting and high-altitude operation, which led to others entering the dangerous area without knowing the situation and causing accidents.

18. When a crane uses a long boom to lift a heavy object, the “brake bar” is not carefully considered.

When a crane uses a long boom to lift a heavy object, the boom is “brake” under force, and the vertical line between the pole head and the center of gravity of the heavy object changes. If the boom is not adjusted correctly, the lifted heavy object will be instantly displaced. If the operator is not careful and does not take avoidance measures (especially in the air), it may be an accident.

19. Inaccurate weight measurement when two cranes lift and flip an item

Since the center of gravity changes during flipping, if the calculation is inaccurate, it is particularly easy to cause one of the cranes to become overloaded and unstable, which will cause problems. If problems occur in this regard, it will not only threaten people’s safety, but also cause huge economic losses to the machinery. There are profound lessons in history, which need to be paid special attention to by construction and technical personnel.

20. Failure to take necessary precautions when working in dangerous areas

For example, when working on a crane beam, insufficient prior contact with the crane driver or a mistaken operation by the crane driver due to busyness, and failure to take measures such as hanging warning flags, warning lights, and setting vehicle stalls, resulting in the crane suddenly appearing and the construction workers being unable to avoid it, causing an accident.

21. Insufficient consideration of climate impact

Open-air gantry cranes and other lifting equipment that have not been fully installed have not taken reliable sealing measures, and the hooks of suspended tower cranes have not been raised to a safe position or anchored on lighter objects. A gust of wind may cause an accident. Sometimes a sudden gust of wind and rain will short-circuit the power supply, and it will be too late to lift the hook. Therefore, it is very important to develop good construction work habits. In addition, when lifting large items on windy days, the impact of wind load on the crane must be considered. Do not operate when there is danger or the wind force exceeds the safety regulations.

By following the above-mentioned safe operation specifications for lifting and hoisting, the probability of accidents can be effectively reduced, the safety of operators can be guaranteed, and the lifting and hoisting operations can be ensured to proceed smoothly.

In addition to the safety of the workers during the lifting work, the safety of the lifting equipment is also extremely important. Our lifting equipment, such as hooks, drums and pulleys, are manufactured in accordance with standard requirements. If you have any ordering needs, please contact us.