The Hazards & Risks of Crane and Hoist Side Pulls: Addressing Alternative Material Handling Methods

L.A. Weaver Co. is proud to announce the publication of the attached white paper on The Hazards and Risk of Crane and Hoist Side Pulls: Addressing Alternative Material Handling Methods.

Key takeaways

• Despite the abundance of regulatory standards prohibiting side pulls, they continue to be a common cause of crane and hoist failure, accounting for about 220 injuries or fatalities each year (Ankerich, 2020).

• OSHA has prohibited the practice of using cranes and hoists to pull or drag a load sideways since 1971; ANSI crane and hoist standards have had the same prohibitions since at least 1967 for overhead and gantry cranes and since 1968 for crawler, locomotive and truck cranes.

• Side pull warning systems are available for some types of hoists and cranes.

• This article examines these prohibited practices including under what circumstances they are permitted to be performed but also explores alternative materials handling methods such as the use of a portable gantry crane or an engine hoist to avoid the hazards associated with side pulls.

Side Pulls_Whitepaper

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