Safety focus on crane service standards

August - september 2021 Safety focus on crane service standards

Rising demand puts particular pressure on hazardous area operations, says Konecranes Demag operations manager Mark Beckwith

As industry prepares for recovery from supply chain disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, companies face the prospect of rapidly expanding demand on lifting equipment vital to their business.

One of the key areas where ongoing safety and reliability will need particular attention as production and distribution ramps up is with specialist lifting equipment, such as hazardous environment cranes and hoists.

Now would be the best time to focus on such specialist technology by undertaking inspections and maintenance before a wave of greater demand arrives to put pressure on resources.

Some of this specialist technology may have lain idle or have been subjected to intermittent or lesser loads than usual over the past year or so,”

But it may be now subjected to greater loads than ever as operators catch up with new production when the economic tide begins to turn.

If you haven’t looked into crane modernisation generally, you’ll likely be surprised by the range of safety and productivity enhancements possible through updating older cranes.

Quality is especially important in hazardous environments, where safety and efficiency are key.

Modernisation raises operational productivity and profitability by assisting operators of upgraded equipment to decrease maintenance costs and control capital expenditures in highly competitive industries.

Konecranes has more than 600,000 items of lifting equipment of all brands under service contracts worldwide. It manufactures a broad range of cranes and hoists specifically designed and certified for hazardous environments. Its cranes include EX types for operating in potentially explosive atmospheres. These environments include those encountered in industries such as chemical plants, agriculture and food and beverage processing and petrochemical plants, oil refineries, ports, transport and logistics, mining plants, gas power plants, recycling plants, co-generation plants and wastewater treatment plants. It includes automotive and other paint shops and industrial sites that may be subject to vapors, gas, dust and volatile environments.

The inspection and maintenance task of Konecranes for example, conducted in partnership with on-site staff, includes industrial overhead electric travelling cranes, jib cranes and manual cranes, as well as electric and manual hoists, with lifting capacities from 125 kg to 160 tons.

Typically, a thorough inspection, safety and maintenance programme will involve a wide range of people with a legal duty of care for safety, including: • Crane designers, manufacturer and suppliers • Crane owners and others with management or control of the crane or the workplace where a crane will operate • Competent people who inspect the cranes • Crane operators

Safety and maintenance inspectors qualified for this process need a broad expertise, such as our own, garnered over more than 100 years of experience with hazardous service and general cranes.

It incorporates multiple certifications that substantiate the quality of our products: IECEx for the world, ATEX for Europe, CSA US for the United States and INMETRO for Brazil, plus local requirements based on the best global standards.

Konecranes’ approach to crane maintenance is centered on Lifecycle Care which focuses on highest lifecycle value to maximise the productivity of uptime and minimise the cost of downtime.

This type of inspection and maintenance work is very much tailored to the needs of individual customers and particular sites – it is definitely not a case of one size, or one approach fits all.

Unsupervised trainee killed by crane

WorkSafe New Zealand is warning businesses that it is unacceptable to allow staff to operate cranes and other machinery without direct supervision or appropriate training.

The warning comes after a fatal incident in Christchurch in January 2020.

An employee at Glaziers Choice Limited, trading as Stake Glass, was crushed by a pack lifter crane implement which was attached to a 2.5 tonne pack of glass.

The overhead gantry crane was controlled by a handheld remote control, and the employee had climbed up the pack lifter to hook the crane hook onto it.

WorkSafe’s investigation found that the victim, who was training to use the crane, used it at times without direct supervision and at the time of the incident was completely unsupervised. The business also had a generic and incomplete health and safety system and its risk register was inadequate.

The investigation also found that crane implements should not be left attached to a load.

WorkSafe Area Investigation Manager Steve Kelly says that this situation could have been completely avoided if the employee had been properly supervised while he was being trained and if the pack lifter was stored without a load attached.

“This is a situation that reinforces the need for proper health and safety systems to be in place. Employees that are not competent in operating machinery must be effectively supervised.”

WorkSafe reminds businesses and employees that unsafe use of crane equipment presents significant risk potential for people and property. WorkSafe provide a number of resources for businesses using cranes, including an approved code of practice – Cranes | WorkSafe.

The company was sentenced on Thursday 1 July at the Christchurch District Court.

A fine of $270,000 was imposed.

Reparation of $110,000 was ordered to be paid to the victim’s family