Safety in the workplace is vital to many aspects of a company, including the health of all employees, job satisfaction, team empowerment, and overall profits. Whether you’re an employee, a contractor, or a vendor, if you’re on company property or job sites, proper safety procedures are essential to keeping everyone safe.
A big part of the safety we practice here at Custom Aire relies on the entire team being thorough and diligent about exercising procedures to ensure a safe working environment.
In this article, we’ll focus specifically on safety surrounding rigging and lifting operations in the construction industry. This is an important sector of the safety manual every construction professional needs to provide to workers in order to maintain safe and healthy working conditions.
Devices
It’s critical to only use lifting devices that are supplied and authorized by your company to ensure that the equipment has been properly inspected and documented as suitable for use. Additionally, only properly trained personnel should authorize rig and sling loads.
Be aware of how much your load weighs and confirm that it does not exceed the maximum capacity of your equipment. If any of these specifications are not up to code, immediately take the device out of service for repairs or replacement.
Proper Rigging
When rigging loads, visual inspection of the slings and lifts is key. Look for any signs of damage or abnormal wear that could compromise your safety when using the device, such as:
- Broken stitching
- Chain or handle damage
- Heat or chemical damage
- Missing parts
- Snags, punctures, tears or cuts
- Twisted hooks
Different sling materials may show different signs of wear and tear. This is why it’s vital to have a certified and trained professional who is in the know about what to look for. After use, proper storage away from high heat areas is also necessary to keep the material in good working condition.
Crane Operation & Signals
When working with lifting and rigging, having a certified crane operator is crucial. A dangerous task such as this requires a high level of knowledge and experience to ensure the wellbeing of every person on the job.
The operator’s view is often obstructed while the crane is in use, such as during travel, lifting to the point of operation, and load placement. For this reason, having a designated and trained signal person on site is just as important to the team’s safety as the operator.
Safe Sites, Safe Team
To keep your team healthy and well on the job site, safety cant only be a requirement it needs to be a state of mind. Practicing proper safety procedures helps the entire team recognize and resolve hazards, to ensure that every employee is kept safe. Not sure about the proper procedures? Keep yourself and your coworkers safe by asking your superior questions to make sure you know what to do.
Training is an important piece of the safety pie, and may be expanded upon at any time for site-specific precautions. Safety is an effort that requires the entire team to be on board and actively exercising procedures at every step of the project.
To learn more about Custom Aire and our safety procedures, and how they can actually benefit building owners, contact us today.
