In any industrial work environment, it’s imperative to ensure complete safety for all workers. While taking the necessary steps towards ultimate safety in your workplace may seem like a tiring or lengthy process, it’s actually likely to quicken up processes and keep your employees safe at the same time. Whether you run a construction site or a shipping yard, you have a responsibility to build a safe working space for your team – and this extends to how you use your cranes.
Overhead gantry cranes, jib cranes or monorail cranes – whatever crane type you use, there are ways to be smart with your operation of it. If you work as a crane operator or a site supervisor where overhead gantry cranes or similar are commonly used, it’s best to be aware of the kinds of risks that cranes can bring and what you can do to minimise them.
To ensure safety in your space, consider these tips.
Read the Manual and Adhere to Guidelines
When it comes to overhead gantry cranes and other traditional types of crane systems, it’s absolutely vital to read the manual and use any guidelines as a way of operating your work site. In order to reach ultimate safety when lifting heavy and large objects, it’s necessary to be thorough in following the manual – and you should encourage this kind of proficiency in your staff. Reading operation manuals will help you properly identify a number of crucial points, including:
- The lifting capacity and capabilities of the particular crane you’re using. Cranes like overhead gantry cranes come in a range of sizes and weight capacities, so it’s good to identify this early.
- How to maintain the crane and how often you should maintain it.
- Special considerations about the crane and how it is most effectively and safely used.
- Ways to avoid accidents and disasters – particularly how to ensure you don’t compromise the crane’s structural integrity.
The manual should also provide you with the adequate information you need in order to teach other team members how to properly use the crane.
Enforce Safety Procedures and Checks
If you’ve just installed or bought a brand new crane for your worksite, it’s a good idea to draw up a procedure for your workers to follow in times of accidents. This will ensure that your lifting equipment and maintenance standards are being properly met while cancelling out any likely interferences or hazards. Having a procedure to follow is also the best way to plan for any unexpected issues, as being able to face these kinds of occurrences head on is important to ensure nobody is hurt.
Attention to detail is also vital when it comes to crane operation. As a crane supervisor, you must be fully trained and qualified to be able to accurately judge the weight of loads. And of course, before conducting any lifting, no matter how big or small, considerate and safe planning is a must for a successful outcome.
