Are the crane safety systems followed in the various heavy industries adequate?

All the probable use the various services of the cranes in order to lift and carry the gigantic objects and the massive loads across one place to another. While doing so, the cranes safety systems need to be very carefully handled properly and with extreme caution. Since they deal with the huge loads, the issue of the crane safety is a vitally very important. The history has shown this many times that neglecting it has proved very costly to the property and life.

As cranes have been in use for the lifting of the massive loads from many years, they are known to ease the burden of carrying loads from one place to another from the shoulders of the human laborers as was the case in the distant past. They have proved to be a great boon to the overall transportation, construction and the manufacturing industries where the material handling is done on the regular basis.

These cranes come in varying shapes and sizes and their functions are different from one another depending upon the kind of the industry they are being used for. The cranes that perform various types of works are particularly categorized under different titles namely the fixed cranes, mobile cranes and the overhead cranes. There are various types of cranes under these categories such as the overhead cranes, tower cranes, jib cranes, crawler cranes, etc. Although they all perform the primary function of lifting the various heavy loads, they all have varying capacities and many applications in the various industries.

Although these cranes are very safe and extreme care is taken by their manufacturers to make them as sturdy and secure, for the industry they are being used in, as possible, crane accidents are not uncommon. The main reason that has been sighted by most of the recent researches regarding these probable accidents is the issue of insufficient training of the operators and the lack of effective crane safety systems in the past.

The first issue can be dealt with by making it mandatory for any worker who operates a crane to undergo rigorous training. He should be trained and tested on the crane safety systems and only after being awarded a particular certificate of competency that he should be allowed to go anywhere near a crane. This in itself will highly eliminate a very crucial cause of the unfortunate crane accidents and pave the way for a healthy and safe industrial environment.

The other problem, namely, the need of effective crane safety systems, has been considerably resolved by the introduction of sophisticated safety devices. Load cells or load sensors are used to accurately sense the load on the crane and gives precise data regarding it. There are many types of load cells including compression load cells, beam load cells, tension load cells, etc.

For further details about crane safety and load cells please visit the website www.saf-lift.com

Extremely useful tips in avoiding the unfortunate crane accidents

The Operating cranes and other lifting equipment has particularly become a very common practice in many of the industrial contexts as electronic cranes are very widely used in the various construction and the factory sites throughout the nooks and corners of the world. The increased volume of the traffic, of the surface of the working areas and of the amount of the heavy loads in order to profit from the economies of scale means that these handling machines deal with the several hundred of the weights every day. With an increasing use of the heavy weight cranes, comes an higher number of the probable crane accidents, that in the best scenario result in the production delays and in the worst ones lead to the loss of the precious human lives.

The various effective researches, extensive surveys and the recent studies show that the main cause for the crane accidents during the crane operation is lack of stability of the machine. This can be caused for a numerous reasons such as the surface where the crane is particularly positioned not being very uniform, the load to be lifted is exceeding the weight or the size of the crane is actually able to handle, or the cranes hoist not being positioned at the gravity centre of the load. For measuring the crane’s load, the maximum load capacity, a crane limit switch is being inserted in all the modern electronic cranes that are being manufactured in the recent times.

Incidents that result in the loss of the precious human lives while operating the heavy handling machinery are in the majority of the cases due to cases of the electrocution. The proper installation and the dismantling of the heavy weight cranes parts are also a frequent cause for these tragic events, as are crane components falling because of the faulty set up procedures while manufacturing.

In the particular case of the quays and the commercial ports, the accidents related to the crane operation in the container terminals represent as much as 30% of the entire asset costs. The most common cause of the asset damage in such contexts is the impact between the booms and the ships from which the loads are being taken. Other frequent issues are related to the hoists, ropes, chains and the spreaders which not being at their best condition and to defective communication systems between the employees.

The lifting procedures do in fact involve the several professional profiles among which the supervisor, the driver or the operator of the crane and the people responsible for the crane and load position warning signals. It is particularly very indispensable that these people receive the proper training and the overall certifications before ever entering the load handling site, as well as an efficient communication method that allows them to exchange the required information and the warnings while avoiding the coordination problems between the equipment, the people and the surrounding area. The rotary limit switches are also one of the major components of the electronic cranes to avoid the unfortunate crane accidents.

For further details about rotary limit switches and crane accidents please visit the website www.saf-lift.com

Crane scales and their varied uses

With changing time and the constant changes in the modern technology, all types of the weighing equipment have come particularly a long way from the original, see saw type of weighing. ten years ago, a crane scale would have been similar to a large dial type scale which is full of heavy duty springs and levers. The modern weighing equipment particularly consists all of the latest, cutting edge materials and the dynamic microchip processors. At the heart of any electronic crane scale is a crane load cell. This is basically a block of the heavy alloy or steel which draws the required power from the circuit board and, in return, gives a mill volt signal which is particularly processed and also gives an accurate reading to the display. The Crane scales are very strategically engineered for all the types of the industrial applications and can be very readily found in all types of the factories and the industrial applications today.

The outer shell is particularly constructed from the industrial grade steel or the heavy duty aluminum, which provides excellent durability and the ultimate protection to the electronic crane scale. The outer shell construction very particularly depends on the overall capacity of the weighing scale and also its various applications. The small capacity scales for the general industrial use are primarily prepared from the aluminum, the high capacity scales tend to be made from a more heavy duty, steel construction.

The electronic crane scale are also particularly found in many industrial foundries and are readily supplied with a heat guard to deflect the heat and to protect the scale in a prime manner. As with most of the weighing scales, the two major types of the display are used. The LCD (liquid crystal display) which is very easy to read in the direct sun light and ideal for outdoor use or LED (light emitting diode) are used for the indoors. The LCD displays come with a built in back light for the convenience of use of the operators in the industries. The power is absolutely supplied via an internal rechargeable battery, with today's technology which can give from 10 to 60 hours of minimum battery life when continuously working. The LCD display crane scales also draw the far less power from the batter and give a greater working life before the need for its next charge. Most of the crane scales have an auto shut function to help conserve on the power.

The modern electronic crane scales offer much excellent features to allow the user to achieve the good dynamic weighing performance, not subjected to the influence of swaying, a built in filter enables the user to adjust the stability depending on the particular application. You are also able to switch the display from kg's to Lbs and also hold the display on a particular weight. There are different capacities and also resolutions to choose from. The position sensing is another great feature of the electronic cranes necessary for the operations safely.

For further details about crane load cell and position sensing please visit the website www.saf-lift.com

Operating the Overhead Cranes should be done safely

Their toil would have been greatly eased if only they had the fair advantage of the modern technology. Although, how they are accomplished the particularly unbelievable task and certainly remains a mystery; the modern construction industry has a particularly straightforward solution to it in the fabulous shape of an overhead crane which is a specialized crane particularly designed to lift the heavy material very efficiently and also safety in the forefront. The crane limit switch is certainly an integral part of the overall overhead crane safety and the security program of any industry to maintain the level of the much required efficiency of its manufacturing as well as the maintenance of the operations.

The Overhead cranes have a particularly simplified design and certainly an unique structure with a much strong railed bridge and a hoist, the part which actually lifts all the heavy loads and also runs across the bridge in a much efficient manner.

The Overhead cranes are primarily used to efficiently and also conveniently handle all the heavy material in the huge manufacturing and the transport industries all over the world. They have the numerous applications in a wide range of the various industries including the booming steel industry, the automobile industry, and the paper mills as well. Using them usually turns out to be more economical as they make the use of the mobile cranes almost non-essential.

There are many types of the overhead cranes which are being used in the heavy and manufacturing industries. Thus, the overhead crane safety is certainly of prime importance which goes without any doubt. Some commonly used examples are the bridge cranes, the gantry cranes, the container cranes, jib cranes, etc. Commonly these cranes are particularly operated with the radio controls for the ultimate value and overall safety. However those cranes that use the very heavy loads or operate at a very high speed and are normally cabin controlled for the operations.

It is very crucial that utmost care to be taken while operating these weight-lifters. An incorrect or careless handling can particularly lead to very serious circumstances and can cause irreparable damage not only to the property but also to the invaluable human life in a big way. And therefore it is very crucial to follow the much needed safety guidelines for the operating of the overhead cranes. It is also very essential for all the crane operators as well as the inspectors to undergo perfectly extensive and rigorous training before actually joining this particular profession.

Basically, an overhead crane is very strategically designed and manufactured to handle a certain amount of heavy weight very securely. Anything beyond that is certainly inviting trouble for sure. Therefore, it should never be forced to perform beyond its overall safety limits to maintain the proper balance or the collision avoidance. The cranes bridge component should very clearly and particularly indicate the load limits of the crane. The load limiter is a crucial component of the crane operations. There should be an arrangement to make some signal or sound like the sirens, etc. before every attempt of lifting the heavy loads. Utmost care should also be particularly taken while moving a load as doing so too hastily or quickly can cause the imbalance and the crane may lean or sway resulting in the losing control of the heavy load it is actually carrying.

For further details about load limiter and collision avoidance please visit the website www.saf-lift.com