Two dangerous mistakes that people often making when using cranes
Cranes are often used for the demolishing of buildings and for the transportation of heavy materials around a construction site. If you have arranged to rent this equipment from a commercial crane hire company, here are some potentially dangerous mistakes which you and your construction crew should try to avoid making when using this machinery.
Transporting excessively-heavy loads
One of the biggest mistakes a crane operator can make is attempting to carry a load which weighs more than the machinery is designed to handle. If they do this, two very serious situations can arise.
The crane's stability and balance may be affected by the excess weight at the front of the equipment; this could result in the crane toppling forward. If this happens, both the operator and the labourers working near the machinery could be crushed by either the crane itself or the load it was carrying.
Alternatively, the crane may remain upright, but the hoists which are attached to the excessively-heavy load may break off. In this scenario, the load could fall onto and kill those working underneath it.
As such, when an operator is preparing a load for transport, they must ensure that it is equal to or less than the maximum weight the crane is able to carry. This information should be available from the crane hire company.
Using the crane in inappropriate conditions
There are certain conditions in which a crane should not be used. However, some operators occasionally attempt to use this equipment in inappropriate conditions, usually because they are concerned about the work falling behind schedule if they do not transport a specific load.
However, regardless of time constraints or scheduling issues, crane operators should never endanger themselves or others by using this equipment in conditions which cranes are not designed to be used in.
For example, most cranes should never be operated during periods of extremely windy weather. This is because a particularly strong gust of wind could increase the momentum of the heavy load the equipment is carrying; the subsequent forceful swinging of the load could then lead to the crane toppling over.
Similarly, cranes should not be used on steep slopes (as this too can lead to the machinery toppling to the ground), or in areas where there are live power lines that the crane's boom could come into contact with (as this could lead to the operator receiving a severe electric shock).