Lili
Health and safety law has undergone huge changes at the turn of several decades, but fatal accidents still occur in the workplace, and often at plants that care about the safety of their staff. In addition to employee training, routine inspection of equipment, including hoists, cranes, overhead cranes and other machinery that carries multi-ton loads, is important here. Why is this so important?
Legal requirements and realities in workplaces
Health and safety regulations are becoming stricter each day and production hall managers are forced to pay attention to new guidelines. Legal regulations require that hoists should be inspected at least once every three months, and in the case of more advanced machines it should be done even once a month. Although at first glance the window may seem overzealous, it must be remembered that sometimes during one unloading the equipment must bear a load that exceeds several hundred tons. In addition to the machine itself, you also need to check the condition of the steel ropes, hooks and handles that are involved in the product transport process.
For hoists or cranes that work in a more demanding environment, such as a chemical plant or wet room, experts recommend checking equipment by a qualified authority as often as possible. Visual inspection by the equipment operator should take place before each use of the hoist.
What do regular checks give?
Preventive maintenance not only reduces the risk of downtime and costly repair bills, but also ensures that the team of employees is not exposed to danger. This is important because even a relatively harmless accident can end tragically if the hoists handle heavy loads. The consequences that would rest in this case on the company are not limited to financial penalties, but also result in a decrease in customer confidence.
How do you find a company that will assess the condition of the machines?
When looking for the perfect contractor to develop a maintenance plan, it’s best to be guided by the opinions of other customers. Often, entrepreneurs believe that the inspection carried out by their insurance company is sufficient in terms of compliance with the law, however, visual inspection of the crane and the load rope will not help to detect more serious problems. Hoists should therefore undergo a detailed inspection of all components that make up the machine