Thursday, 5 December 2013

Better Practices for Safer Crane Operations


Many companies including construction, transportation, automobile, etc. frequently use overhead cranes. Heavy blocks of construction material, automobile parts, etc. are required to be carried from one part of the factory to the other in order to carry out the manufacturing or assembling processes. This is not possible manually and can only be accomplished with the help of gigantic overhead cranes.

What are the advantages of using overhead cranes?

An overhead crane is extremely useful for these heavy industries. They perform the most difficult and laborious task in the manufacturing unit of the factory, i.e. of carrying the tremendous weight of various objects and material from one corner of the unit to another. These crane load cell being very powerful machines can easily lift these objects and quite effortlessly carry them to another place quite quickly. This saves enormous amount of manual labor as well as valuable time.

Are cranes dangerous to operate?

Not really. Actually, they are built to carry heavy loads. The hoist and ropes used in them are made of extremely resilient material such as steel and aluminum. This makes them sturdy and intrinsically safe for use under any conditions.

However, since they are very large in size and the nature of their work includes carrying extremely heavy weights, they can sometimes be vulnerable to accidents. They can go out of balance or the ropes may break and the objects may fall down on the ground causing heavy damage.

It should be noticed, however, that cranes themselves are not dangerous in any way. It is how they are used that decides whether they will prove to be an efficient servant or a nuisance.

How to ensure maximum crane safety under these conditions?

Cranes being susceptible to accidents, the overall crane safety becomes an important issue in any industry that uses them. Normally a crane loses it’s balance or breaks down when it is forced to carry load that is beyond its capacity. Since a crane is only a machine that carries out the functions it is design for, it is the responsibility of the crane operator to not over-burden it.

It is important to double-check every part of the crane before using it. If any part is not functioning well, the crane should never be used. Oiling and servicing every part regularly is important to keep the machine in top condition.

Keeping the load on the crane under its maximum limit is extremely important. Most accidents happen due to carelessness or over-confidence regarding this. Using safety devices is the best way to achieve this. These devices such as load cells, load limiters, crane scales, etc. help monitor the load and offer signal if it goes beyond limits.

Working in a team is always better and safer. This way the operation can be carried out safely and if any mishap happens others are readily available for help.

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