Preventive and corrective maintenance is critical in determining crane equipment’s safety. These two steps are extremely important in a regular crane inspection routine and require highly expert and professional crane workers.
As significant as crane maintenance may be, it also poses fatal risks to the ones inspecting the equipment. That’s why project managers and crane owners must adopt the latest safety practices to ensure their maintenance team stays safe. You may also want to invest in accurate and sensor-based crane camera systems to help crane maintenance workers stay alert during their work shifts.
In this detailed blog, we’ve highlighted the core components of a crane maintenance worker safety program. So let’s get started.
An Overview of a Crane Maintenance Worker Safety Program
Crane maintenance ensures your equipment will not suddenly stop or malfunction during a lift. It helps detect minor to major hardware and software faults early. Crane maintenance is further divided into various categories, each with its unique features, dos, don’ts, and technical expertise requirements.
The two most critical methods in crane maintenance programs include preventive and corrective inspection. This is when your crane maintenance workers conduct a holistic inspection, from the crane hook and jib to internal engine components and software panels. They check every part to eliminate any underlying problems that may compromise crane safety in the long run.
However, crane maintenance workers put themselves at great risk in doing so. They’re highly prone to get hit by falling objects, overheating, vibratory motion, and other hazards. Therefore, you must develop and implement an end-to-end crane maintenance safety program with the following components:
Risk Assessment
Risk assessment techniques are designed to detect anything wrong with a crane, its surroundings, on-ground marking, and operational parts. It’s a comprehensive diagnostic method that helps crane workers, operators, maintenance experts, and inspectors stay alert and aware.
A proper crane risk assessment also plays a vital role in safeguarding crane maintenance workers. It provides them with the necessary details of crane type, parts, working environment, and past breakdowns or accidents that may have occurred in the crane. All of these nitty-gritty details determine the level of risk associated with a crane and the safety measures required for the maintenance workers.
Pragmatic and Theoretical Training
Most crane maintenance accidents occur due to human errors caused by crane maintenance workers’ lack of knowledge and technical expertise. That’s why training is essential to every crane maintenance and inspection safety program. Your workers and operators must be fully trained and tested in the following areas to ensure their own safety during crane operations:
Crane parts and their maintenance requirements
A complete understanding of crane load charts provided by the manufacturers
The right way to use personal protective equipment during crane maintenance work
A detailed emergency response plan
Fall, electrocution, and struck-by-accident safety practices
The right signaling and warning techniques
PPE Use On-site, During Maintenance and Inspection, and Post-Operation
The right protective gear can keep crane maintenance workers safe from unforeseen or sudden crane issues. It helps avoid the damage caused by high temperatures, chemical exposure, and other on-site hazards. PPE is also necessary to avoid electrocution risks as it’s made of insulating material that doesn’t allow electricity to pass through.
Other essential PPE components for crane maintenance workers include:
Hard hats
Tough, insulated boots
Safety glasses
Noise cancellation ear protection
Respirators and safety harnesses
Face-protecting shields and gloves
Also, make sure that your crane inspectors, maintenance experts, and operators have bright-colored PPE equipment so they’re easy to spot and communicate with.
A Fall Protection Mechanism
A fall arrest or protection system is the most commonly used safety tool by crane operators and maintenance workers. It consists of an anchorage, connectors, body harnesses, and a disinclination device. You can also opt for a more advanced system with camera systems, audible-visual alarms, and a lanyard for maximum safety.
Fall protection and arrest systems may also include guardrails, rigid tracking, ground marking, and wire rope techniques to help crane maintenance workers stay safe during their work shifts. The OSHA code 1926.1423 also mandates that tower and overhead crane maintenance workers must have separate walkways, vertical boom safety tracks, and railings.
In addition, crane safety professionals and training experts recommend crane owners buy quality crane warning systems such as wind speed indicators, anti-two blocking systems, and load indicators. These advanced and accurate crane warning devices are designed to keep crane crew updated about their equipment’s performance and functional and physical conditions.
Crane warning devices also provide the necessary information about crane weight, height, and radius limits. OSHA recommends crane managers develop safety areas with slip-resistant flooring, grip taping, hand holds, and grab-railed ladders.
Improve Your On-Site Crane Maintenance, Inspection, and Operation Safety with Crane Warning Systems Atlanta
Crane Warning Systems Atlanta is a highly credible crane safety product distributor in the US. We have been providing cutting-edge crane warning devices and RaycoWylie products since 2001.
We also sell RaycoWylie’s vast range of crane warning products as their official distributor. RaycoWylie is the pioneer of g more. If you’re looking for authentic RaycoWylie crane warning devices in the US, Crane Warning Systems Atlanta has got your back!
We also offer 24/7 customer and technical support to help you install, configure, integrate, and use advanced crane systems. Our team keeps tabs on all of our customers and ensures you’re laced with all the necessary information about crane warning indicators and their maintenance.
Don’t forget to check out our product manuals and free troubleshooting guides on our website. Contact them for more details or request a quick quote now.