How To Safely Use Crane Equipment On Your Next Construction Project

Updated by: Business First Family May 10, 2022 in Business

There are several steps to safely use crane equipment on your next construction project. While industrial cranes are known to be highly-effective on commercial job sites, they also have a tendency to be extremely dangerous. After all, cranes have been reported to cause numerous workplace incidents and accidents throughout recent years. Fortunately, following the proper safety tips, protocols, and strategies will help companies prevent almost every kind of error. As a construction business owner, you’ll want to know about all the industry rules and requirements to operate crane equipment safely. Read on to learn the steps to safely use crane equipment on your next construction project.

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Take Precautions Before Moving A Load

Before you even move a load, there’s a few considerations to safely utilize crane equipment. To start, make sure your construction workers have the necessary training, safety qualifications, and certifications. Of course, you should enforce PPE workwear regulations for employee safety. Also, verify the crane is suitable for transporting heavy loads and lifting large objects. You’ll also want to plan and lay out a detailed job plan. This should include clearing out a path for emergency vehicles and operating in areas free of power lines. To ensure stability, analyze the terrain for unstable ground early on. Definitely, take some preparatory precautions to use crane equipment properly across construction projects.

Plan Out Your Work Carefully

Next, plan out your work carefully when operating crane equipment on construction projects. Create a lift and safety plan for every project that requires crane equipment. Within this document, make sure you have the necessary equipment to complete the project. Also, think about obstacles like live power lines, road traffic, or ground slopes. You’ll also want to analyze your staff to ensure you have enough labor to get the job done. Before the project begins, it is also important to demarcate the construction areas to keep traffic or bystanders away. It may also be helpful to monitor weather conditions for drastic temperatures and wind. After all, the performance of construction equipment will be seriously impacted during these hazardous conditions. Surely, plan out your work to safely use crane construction equipment on your next industrial project.

Conduct Routine Inspections

To safely operate crane equipment, you need to conduct routine inspections. Utilize a formal inspection checklist to make sure your crane is operating properly before any construction work begins. When starting up the crane, be sure to note tire condition, oil levels, and fuel. Inspect it as you would restaurant equipment. You should also verify the seat belts are working as intended. If all of this checks out, start up the engine to analyze safety signals, horns, and suspensions. Additionally, take a close look at your outriggers and recommended capacity limiters. For sure, conduct frequent operator checks to safely use crane equipment for construction projects.

Appoint A Qualified Signal Person

Then, appoint a qualified signal person to safely use crane equipment correctly on business construction projects. Essentially, a signal person is the crane operator’s “eyes and ears” when working on industrial construction projects. They play a major role in hand signals and overall guiding operations. That being said, your crane operators and signal workers need to meet before construction projects begin. This way, they can build a professional relationship, learn to work with each other, and determine a preferred method of communication. Depending on your staff’s goals, they may choose to use hand signals or radios for communication. Certainly, hire a certified signal person to safely manage crane equipment on commercial construction projects.

Follow After-Use Safety Tips

Even after you’ve used industrial crane equipment, there are a few important safety tips to keep in mind. Once projects are finished, move equipment to a safe, approved location. In storage, crane lifting and loading components should never be left at more than 90 degrees. After all, this could risk bending the magnet and require costly repairs. In addition, you should never leave an attached load on the crane. Similarly, this can cause extensive damage to your construction equipment. If you are not staying in the vicinity of the construction area after work is complete, take the crane’s controller with you. This way, your equipment cannot be used to perform unauthorized projects while you’re away. Of course, follow after-use safety tips for safe crane equipment construction operations.

There are several steps to safely use crane equipment on your next construction project. First, take the proper precautions before operating with crane equipment. Then, plan out your work, integrate a workforce management solution and design a safety plan. In addition, conduct routine inspections to maintain safety standards. Next, hire a certified signal person for effective methods of communication. Of course, follow after-use safety tips to avoid excessive crane damage. Read on and learn the steps to safely use crane equipment on your next construction project.

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