Just a quick reminder to our crane and rigging friends about lift planning. The international society has basically adopted a boilerplate approach to load handling.
The items listed below are the points of consideration for the decision maker. The load is at Point A and needs to be moved to Point B. A number of handling systems may be involved in its transition from take-off to placement. These might include cranes, jacks, rollers, hydraulic gantries, a slide system, heavy-haul transporters, strand jacks or other equipment. At the end of the day, we have to overcome gravity’s pull and create movement in a controlled manner.
1) Weight of load.
2) Location of the load’s center of gravity.
3) Overall maximum dimensions of the load.
4) Location and quantity of approved lifting lugs / lifting points.
5) Selection of the appropriate rigging gear to suit lifting points and center of gravity.
6) Height restriction.
7) Risk Assessment.
8) Method Statement.
A new term to some folks is “method statement”. This includes the process, procedure, engineering data, costing, public and site impact, and preparation requirements.
How does your planning process stack up? Overlooking one of these critical elements can certainly result in major setbacks. Share this conversation with your “crew”. It’s the professional approach which can easily be adopted for nearly any load moving activity.
To gain hands-on lift-planning experience, consider attending ITI's Lift Director & Site Supervisor Training and Critical Lift Planning Training programs in the near future. These are comprehensive training programs which are at least 50% focused on hands-on training.
Happy trails to my crane and rigging friends,
Mike Parnell
ITI – Field Services
P.S. ASME has a newly-formed committee called P30 - Lift Planning. The committee will create voluntary standards regarding planning for the use of cranes, derricks, hoists, cableways, aerial devices, and lifting accessories. You can view ITI's Rigging Training options here, and ITI Lift Planning and Management Training Options here.
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