Safety In The Use Of Lifting & Moving Equipment
An amendment to LOLER included the positioning and the installation of the lifting equipment and the organization of lifting operations
Positioning and the installation of lifting equipment
Lifting the equipment must be positioned and installed so as to reduce the risks, so far as is reasonably practicable, from:
- equipment or a load striking a person;
- a load drifting, falling freely or being released unintentionally.
Lifting equipment should be positioned and installed to minimize the need to lift loads over people and to prevent crushing in the extreme positions. It should be designed to stop the safely in the event of the power failure and not release its load.
Lifting equipment, which follows a fixed path, should be enclosed with the suitable and the substantial interlocked gates and any necessary protection in the event of power failure.
- Check suitable clothing and assess the load. The heaviest side of the body.
- Place the feet apart – bend knees.
- Firm grip – close to body Slight bending of the back, hips, and the knees at the start.
- Lift smoothly to the knee level and then waist the level. No further bending of the back.
- With the clear visibility move forward without twisting. Keep the load close to the waist. Turn by moving the feet. Keep head up. Do not look at load.
- Set load down at waist level or to knee level and then on the floor.
The organization of lifting operations
Every lifting operation, that is lifting or lowering of a load, shall be: properly planned by the competent person;
- appropriately supervised;
- carried out in a safe manner.
The person planning the operation should have adequate practical and the theoretical knowledge and the experience of the planning lifting operations. The plan needs to address the risks identified by the risk assessment and identify the resources, the procedures and the responsibilities required so that any lifting operation is carried out safely.
For routine simple lifts, a plan will normally be the responsibility of the people using the lifting equipment. For complex the lifting operations, for example, where two cranes are used to lift one load, a written plan may need to be produced each time.
The planning should include: the need to avoid suspending loads over occupied areas, visibility, the attaching/ detaching and securing of loads, the environment, the location, the possibility of overturning, the proximity to other objects, any lifting of people and the pre-use checks required for the equipment.
Summary of the requirements for lifting operations
There are four general requirements for all lifting operations:
- use strong, stable and suitable lifting equipment;
- the equipment should be positioned and installed correctly;
- the equipment should be visibly marked with the safe working load (SWL);
- lifting operations must be planned, supervised and performed in a safe manner by competent people.