Ensure Safety With A Hoist Inspection Checklist

What is a Hoist Inspection Checklist?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) are the three regulating institutions that are in charge of developing standards and best practices for the preventive maintenance and inspection of overhead cranes.

The Plant or Operation Manager in charge of the inspection and maintenance of this equipment should be familiar with these standards. Sadly, many managers have mistakenly thought they have complied with inspection standards if their crane equipment goes through an inspection once a year.

All three organizations require three different inspections throughout the lifetime of the crane. Each type of checkup also needs three kinds of hoist inspection checklists.

1. Initial Inspection

Conducted to any new, repaired, modified, altered, or reinstalled crane before its initial use.

A qualified OEM representative will inspect the new crane and ensure that it complies with OEM standards. Meanwhile, a qualified person will check the modified, altered, reinstalled, or repaired crane.

2. Frequent Inspection

It is a combination of operational and visual checkups done on a daily or monthly basis. Its frequency depends on environmental, service, and application factors, as identified by the compliance officer.

3. Periodic Inspection

It is more detailed than the frequent inspection where each component is tested to determine its condition. This checkup can be quarterly or annually, depending on the officer-in-charge.

Aside from these inspections, any provisions given in the manufacturer's manual shall be followed.

In addition, this article explains the following points:

1. How to conduct an effective hoist inspection

2. How to have an OSHA-compliant hoist inspection program

3. Advantages of a mobil hoist inspection app

How to Conduct an Effective Hoist Inspection

Construction is a hazardous industry. The risks increase even more when safety measures are taken for granted. Having a hoist inspection policy in place can mitigate the risks, maximize productivity, and ensure compliance with the law.

Here are some tips to have an effective hoist inspection policy. Use this together with your periodic ordaily hoist inspection checklist.

Always conduct pre-use check ups

Different external factors can cause changes in the hoist's condition since the last inspection. Therefore, a pre-use review is necessary to identify any problems before they become serious problems.

The OSHA hoist inspection checklist will have some of the following tasks:

• Visually check all load chains for severe damage that can become a hazard
• Ensure the hoist is properly secured
• Ensure that the load is within the load limit indicated on the warning label
• Inspect if all motions are smooth and regular, without any vibration, unusual noise, binding, or other irregularity
• Check if the chain is not damaged or kinked

Follow scheduled inspections

OSHA requires hoists and cranes to undergo at least one inspection yearly at a minimum. But as mentioned above, pre-use, daily, weekly, and monthly checkups are necessary for safety. No matter what the intervals for inspections are, it is essential to follow them.

ASME issues the following guidelines for periodic inspection intervals:

• Normal service - annually
• Severe service - monthly or quarterly
• Special service - as recommended by an inspection officer

Periodic checkups depend on the gravity of the operating environment and the frequency of use of the equipment.

Immediately take action

Once an issue is detected, immediate action must be taken to resolve it. Report the situation to the plant or operation manager or officer in charge to prevent any accidents or operational setbacks from happening.

Make your checklist structured but straightforward.

A practical hoist inspection checklist is straightforward. Having too many unnecessary steps can be counter-productive. Instead, only include the most relevant information for the inspection. Download and customize the Lumiform daily hoist inspection checklist to fit your business needs.

Organize inspection data

Organizing and keeping inspection data can provide other teams insight when they face similar issues. By doing so, they can quickly solve the cause of the problem.

How to Have an OSHA-compliant Hoist Inspection Program

Having an OSHA-compliant inspection policy ensures workers are safe and companies that have legally met all the requirements. Compliance starts by being familiar with the standards set by OSHA, CMAA, and ASME.

The information is necessary when:

• Conducting inspections for overhead cranes in regular and not in everyday
• Performing maintenance on overhead cranes
• Training crane operators and maintenance technicians

1. Conducting inspections

Cranes that are in regular use have two types of inspection based on their frequency - frequent and periodic inspections.

As per CMAA #78, a frequent inspection should check the following items:

• Hoist or crane has no out-of-service sign
• All motions conform with control device markings
• Stopping distance is normal, and braking movements don't have excessive drift.
• Hooks have no cracks, deformation, twist, or wear on their saddle or load-bearing point.
• Wire ropes are adequately lubricated and have no damage or deformation to the rope structure.
• The load chain has no twist, excessive wear, or distorted links.
• The wire rope is reeved correctly and not twisted and is settled perfectly in drum grooves.

On the other hand, periodic inspection as per the exact specification shall examine the following items if they pose a safety hazard:

• Structural members have no cracks, corrosion, and deformities. Footwalks have no impediments like debris.
• Operating cabs have the appropriate fire extinguisher in place.
• Connection points have no loose or broken bolts and rivets.
• The brake system is functioning properly.
• All electrical apparatus have no signs of deterioration or pitting.

2. Maintenance

OSHA 1910.17 indicates to take the following precautions shall before repairs and adjustments start:

• The crane that needs repair must be in an area where it won't cause any interference to the operations.
• Ensure that controllers are at the OFF position.
• Place an "Out of Order" sign on the crane, under the crane, or on the hook.
• Rail stops must be in place to prevent interference from other cranes in operation.
• Remove all maintenance equipment, reinstall all guards, and reactivate safety devices before using the crane again.

3. Training

ASME B30.20 states that management is responsible for the training of their crane operators and maintenance crew.

Crane operators must undergo training to improve their proficiency in handling their equipment following best practices. Maintenance, on the other hand, should receive training to improve their repair skills.

Better conduct hoist inspections digitally with an App

Paperwork on the job site is inconvenient and may have a long commute to the office. A digital tool like Lumiform makes it easier to access and secure documents and share information about discovered incidents during inspections. This not only saves time but also increases safety when dealing with lifting equipment.

With Lumiform's mobile app and desktop software, safety officers and workers in hoist inspection processes benefit from:

• Hoist inspections can be performed on-site via the app using a smartphone or tablet, even when offline.
• Easily document any issues by taking pictures and writing comments.
• Assign and track corrective and preventive actions to staff in real time.
• Solve problems faster by collaborating with the team through the app.
• Share the automatically generated hoist inspection report with the appropriate personnel immediately upon completion for immediate action.
• Save all information securely in the cloud and access it at any time.