Think about
it. If the crane has no load except the below the hook device are you allowed
to lift it and transport it with an overhead crane over someone’s head? I am
hoping your answer is “no” because that is the correct answer. People will try
to argue this on many levels but you are never allowed to lift any load over
someone’s head. I will visit customers and I am amazed at what I often see.
Loads are continually lifted over personnel’s heads, and because no one has
ever gotten hurt they continue to do so. Is that what it takes to get people to
not do something they really shouldn’t be doing? I truly think OSHA needs to
spend more time visiting facilities in the general industry and monitor their
operation.
In 2007 OSHA
wrote an interpretation
letter specifically regarding this issue.
Never is there a time when it is ok to lift something over someone’s
head. This letter refers back to OSHA’s regulation 1910.179
(n)(3)(vi) which states, The employer
shall require that the operator avoid carrying loads over people. It is the
employer’s responsibility to ensure that loads are not carried over someone’s
head.
However,
because of how this regulation is written, many people will argue that it is ok
to carry an empty below the hook device over someone’s head because it is part of
the crane. Again this is incorrect. OSHA defines a load as, the total superimposed weight on
the load block or hook. Therefore anything below the hook is considered part of the load. This
would include slings, spreader beams, scales, magnets, e.t.c.
Talk to your
overhead crane service
provider about your production process to ensure you are staying within the
regulations that have been set in place to keep crane operators safe. Your
service provider should be a team member of your production and maintenance
staff. Get them involved and see how they can help you today.
