As a business owner, your first and arguably most important commitment is to the health and safety of your employees. Having your heavy equipment, including your overhead crane and hoist systems, inspected is one important way that you can uphold this moral and legal obligation. Having your equipment assessed by an experienced technician will help you identify and rectify deficiencies that might cause injuries, downtime, and legal issues.
In addition to keeping your employees safe, a proper inspection and routine maintenance will reduce unplanned downtime and expensive emergency repairs. While crane inspection isn’t always cheap, your investment can save you thousands of dollars in nonproductive time and repair costs. Your appointed individual is required to ensure this type of equipment is operating safely, according to OSHA (Code 1910) and ANSI B30 standards.
The frequency in which you schedule crane inspection depends on how and how often your equipment is used. However, a good rule of thumb is that an operator or maintenance technician should perform a pre-shift inspection each day. You should also have periodic and frequent inspections, which should be performed by a qualified individual daily, monthly, or annually, based on the condition of your equipment. If deficiencies are found regularly, crane inspections should be scheduled more frequently.
Inspections performed outside of your pre-shift visual checks should be done by an individual with at least 2000 hours of training or work experience. This should be a person who is fully versed in all the moving parts of your heavy equipment, including service, repairs, and modifications. The greatest benefit of having a professional crane inspector is that they will have the knowledge and experience to be able to identify operational issues, code violations, and current and future safety hazards.
Load testing is another important aspect of your crane inspection. The vast majority of single girder cranes must be inspected at installation, after a modification or repair, or anytime the equipment is moved from one location to another. Integrity Crane And Hoist suggests testing at 125% of your equipment’s rated capacity.
Monorails and hoist runways also require inspection. While this can be performed annually, ample time should be given to your inspector to make sure that each component is functioning as it should be. This should be a separate process and not just an afterthought of your crane inspection. Each runway and fastening system must be checked out and necessary hardware or components replaced prior to returning your equipment to service.
Your crane inspector may also recommend an alignment survey if your cranes skew or showcase unusually high weal wear rates.
Contact Integrity Crane And Hoist for more information on testing, repair, proactive maintenance, OSHA-compliant crane inspections, and modification services for your organization.