What is excellent about Melbourne is the many buildings that were constructed with elegance and appeal in mind. You can visit the Eureka Tower in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne that has 88 floors. And if you want to visit impressive skyscrapers, you have the Rialto skyscraper that you can locate on the western side of Melbourne’s central business district. You can even check out the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known as “The G”, in Yarra Park.
The buildings mentioned above can never be built without using crucial construction equipment like cranes. You should know that cranes are one of the most difficult equipment to operate, which is why most would consider the option of crane hire in Melbourne as they already have experienced crane operators. However, inexperienced workers still believe in dangerous misconceptions about crane safety that they take for granted. As the head contractor, you should know what they are to clear out any misunderstandings about crane safety.
Misconception #1: You Can Overload the Crane
Going over the capacity of the crane’s average weight load can be extremely dangerous, especially when the crane is lifting the load to higher levels. Even with the ones like overhead cranes with a built-in safety factor, it is still highly inadvisable to go over the load capacity.There were rare instances when cranes attached to buildings would topple over because workers went over the maximum load weight. When considering the option of crane hire in Melbourne, a good tip is to never go for ones that have worn-out cranes.
Workers can also use economical load-checking devices to know how much weight load the crane is lifting. Even if you see load markings, you should double or triple check it all the time to avoid any problems that could cause significant damage and even fatal accidents.
Misconception #2: Side Pulling Is Acceptable
Another common misconception about crane safety that some workers believe is that they can pull the load to the side whenever they want. You need to know that a crane can only lift straight up or down and can never be pulled sideways. You can find that side pulling causes a ton of dangerous situations.One scenario is when the rope tends to come out of its grooves and rubs against the existing drum or rope, causing extensive rope damage. In some instances, the rope jumps the drum and entangles itself throughout the shaft, causing huge stress on the rope. Never let your workers do side pulling to achieve worksite safety.
Misconception #3: Relying on Secondary Braking
Every crane has a hoist that comes with a primary and secondary brake. Electric hoists have a primary brake that acts as a fail-safe drum or disk brake. When the crane suddenly loses power, the brakes will continue to keep the hoist in its stationary position until the power comes back on.Because of the primary and secondary brakes, some workers think that they can safely stand or work under a hoist because the brakes will prevent them from falling. They are wrong because once the primary brakes fail, the secondary brake will not hold the load but lower it at its usual operating speed. In such situations, if there are unaware workers underneath the load, they can suffer serious injuries.
Since you now know the truth about several crane safety misconceptions, you should have no problem ensuring worksite safety.
Author Bio: Nora George is a freelance writer and extremely fond of anything related to Digital Marketing and Business. She is writing Technologies as well as fiction, like good music, loves her cat and eats too much. More than anything, She loves to share the knowledge of Technology.
