Cranes play a vital role in many construction projects, but they also represent a threat for the operators and the rest of the crew on a job site. For every piece of equipment that lifts heavy loads above the ground, there must be a safe working limit displayed clearly. Today, there is a wide range of crane attachments that are mainly used for increasing the safety on the construction sites.
Mezzanine Storage Areas
The best way to ensure that the load will be safely handled, is to store the load in a mezzanine storage area. Mezzanine storage areas are a unique solutions for storing any type of load. Every mezzanine storage area should have a safe load capacity for increased safety and for avoiding over-loading.
Storage Racks
Storage racks are familiar to all, as they are widely used for storing various things. Usually, they are made of steel legs and beams. In Australia, there is even a standard for steel storage racks that governs the construction, design and loading. The Australian standard includes the allowed working unit load limit and the allowed total working unit load for each pallet. Additionally, every storage rack should have its specifications and drawings in the workplace.
Forklift Attachment
The forklift is a crane attachment that is known as one of the most efficient lifting attachments. There are many forklift extensions and similar man-made forklift attachments, but unfortunately, many of them don’t have a confirmed manufacturer, safe working load, date of production and other similar precautions and limitations. However, every manufacturer of forklift crane attachment should meet the WHS regulations (Work Health and Safety), which means it needs to be suitable for the load that needs to be lifted, and to be operated in a way that will eliminate all possible risks. So, it is strongly recommended each manufacturer to provide instructions.
Crane And Hoists
The crane and hoists must have safe working limits and they need to be clearly displayed on the crane/hoist mechanism or on the supporting structural member. The manufacturers of cranes and hoists should never display a higher safe working limit, because if the crane or other similar crane attachment has lower loading capacity, the possibility of over-loading and tipping over is very high, and this can result in crane accidents.
