Is your Crane Lifting Attachment safe?

Complying with crane lifting safety standards is not only an essential workplace health and safety requirement; it can also save lives.

In 2011, A Malaga crane and hoist company and two of its Directors were fined a total of $180,000 over the death of a 22-year-old Western Australian construction worker in October 2007. The court was told that the slinging practice used was inherently dangerous because it relied heavily on the packing straps supporting the load, which they clearly did not.

Do you know whether the crane lifting attachment that you have been using for the last 10 years conforms to the Australian Standard for Lifting Devices?

In 2004 Standards Australia released their design criteria for Lifting Devices under a new standard AS4991. The design criteria within this standard expects that your lifting attachment can withstand a “proof load” of 2 times the unit’s working load limit (WLL) up to a load capacity of 10 tonne.

Therefore if you are designing and manufacturing a crane bin to lift product onto a high rise building site that is rated to 2000Kgs WLL, then the unit must be tested to 4000Kgs.

For crane lifting safety, the unit MUST be:

• Engineered, designed and drawn
• Manufactured by tradesman that can perform welding tasks to AS1554.1sp
• “Proof loaded” as the last test for its capacity rating.

Bremco Metal Products, an Australian metal fabricator, manufactures and distributes quality crane lifting attachments including crane lifting cages, crane man cages, crane lift bins and other general crane attachments.

All Bremco crane lifting attachments are manufactured and proof load tested in accordance with Australian Standard AS4991, and AS1418.17 for our crane man boxes. All units come with a standard compliance plate and serial number, allowing you to record this in your safety lifting register.

Bremco products are manufactured to the highest quality and meet strict engineering guidelines to conform with Australian standards, ensuring the attachments contribute to a safe work environment.

If your crane attachment was not designed, engineered and manufactured using the above steps, there is a fair chance that your lifting device will not conform to Australian Standards, and you could run the risk that the unit fails and injures someone in the process, or worse still you could end up with a death onsite.

Brett Moody