Inspected Your Slings And Straps Lately?

Good topic.

In the UK, there should be a General Register at the facility, with inspection test records of lifting equipment and pressure systems readily to hand. The people that are likely to want to see it, and see it kept up to date, are the factories inspectors and the surveyors for the companies providing indemnity insurance. In the event of an incident, this is the first thing an investigator will want to see.

If the facility cannot show records of test and inspection of equipment, Improvement Notices and Prohibition Notices may follow. Breach of these notices is an offence in UK law, and both the organisation and individuals can be pursued for it.

The nature of the Register is immaterial; it could be something as simple as a folder in a filing cabinet containing the inspection and test records.

Sounds like a best practice to me. Milo

Practices here aren't all that much different. However, inspection is required by every worker before every lift.

Some years ago, I saw 100 ton come down hook and all. In this case, the real danger was all the broken crane parts and cable that came down so very soon after. No one was hurt, but it did install a renewed respect for lifting all heavy things forever after.

Nice video showing the dropping of a locomotive.

I wonder how much that mistake cost to replace the locomotive and to repair the dock. Not to mention the loss of service of both dock and locomotive.

I would like to see a video of how they picked it back up!

i totally agree. i inspect the lift rigging [not just the slings] , every lift.. i consider every lift to be a life or death situation.

As per regulation here in India all lifting equipments and accessories are required to be overload tested i.e tested at 150% of SWL every year. Tests will be conducted under supervision of Competent Person appointed by Factory Inspector. All tests are recorded and preserved. Any deformation or failure of the equipment or it's part is examined and item is rejected till rectified and retested.

Apparently this happened in Owendo, Gabon, in Central West Africa

I couldn't find a newspaper article.......

At my location, lifting practices are a bit dodgy. Lots of dangerous lifting rig and improper rigging practices abound. Keeping well clear is good for your health.

When I do lifts and it's my rap if it goes bad I inspect the rigging myself. I cut any slings that I deem unsafe. The crane operator is forced to buy a new one(s) then. There is no inspecting authority or requirements to log inspections.

For seriously expensive lifts or where it really matters I buy my own new slings of correct length and SWL (and shackles) for the job to prevent improvisation by the riggers and get insurance.

In this video, did anyone else notice, the 2 slings at the far end that didn't break, but flayed around after the drop, had a third sling hanging off one of them until it flicked off?

I wonder how this lift was rigged?

I worked in different naval shipyards and one of my tasks was to write rigging procedures in support of heavy lifts. Throughout the procedure, much mention was made to inspect slings, ropes, fittings before making the lift. It would be up to the operator to carry out the inspection. He would be held responsible for any failure. Verification of inspection would be the responsibility of the ship superintendent. The procedure would include a sign off sheet that would become part of the record keeping. It would be in the case of a failure that the record would be reviewed. U.S.Navy shipyards were good at keeping records. I can't speak for private shipyards. I knew of failures at a private shipyard that resulted in the death of the crane operator. That yard is no longer in business.

it's hard to tell by the video what caused the rigging failure. my best guess would be that the rear slings where cut due to cradling it on a sharp object, the train frame. the whole rigging was done by amutures.