CAL OSHA Title 8 Article 100 Cranes and Hoist Inspection and Maintenance

When do you inspect your crane? Annually? Quarterly? Monthly? Daily? Answer: all the above. Daily visual inspections by the operator or other qualified person is a must for all crane owners. You can catch most issues in the daily operations check. Any day something can happen to the hoist that you may not even know about wihout doing an inspection. It could be as simple as the safety latch not working properly. Catching this prior to the use of the equipment can be vital in preventing an accident. CAL OSHA also requires you too perform periodic inspections four times a year. The annual inspection is included in the four periodic inspections. So your required to perform your daily inspections, three quarterly inspections, and your annual inspection. Each one being more thorough than the previous. So how do you know if this is even enough for your equipment? Perhaps your equipment is in a factory that runs 24-7. CAL OSHA helps break this down for you as well. If you run your equipment for more than 750 hours between your quarterly inspections than you need to perform a heavier inspection schedule. So if you have a crane that runs 24-7 for seven days a week then you would need to perform a quarterly inspection every month, and an annual inspection every 4 months. When am I required to perform load test on my equipment? Article 99 section 5022 explains that before initial use all new cranes are required to have a proof load test. They are then required to be proof tested every four years. Any major modifications or repairs require a new proof load test. Often I hear from people, I am not going to do an inspection on this unit because we do not use it often or have not used it in a long time. if this is your idea of saving money think again. If you do not use your equipment for 6 months, you are required to perform all test as if it was a brand new unit. therefore you would be required to perform an annual inspection and a proof load test again. If you don't use a piece of equipment for a month you are required to perform a thorough inpspection on the unit prior to use as well. Save money and time by doing your inspections and load test annualy. It will only cost you more down the road.