Are your Qualified Riggers current on the most recent changes made by ASME and OSHA?
In hoisting operations, rigging is only as strong as the individual’s knowledge and qualifications. Workers’ lives depend upon these individuals to be qualified riggers who are properly trained to do the job. There are a lot of companies still training on standards and “best practices” from 10 years ago. Some of which may no longer pertain to today’s industry. This can result in lax safety standards.
Because of this, we have outlined a few highlights of the changes made to ASME 30.9 in June of 2018 and a few other general provisions that we see individuals still being misinformed on. For a full list of provisions, we encourage you to visit the ANSI website.
Most trainers instruct that all sling types have a choker hitch strength rating of 75% of vertical capacity. However, as we continue to stay up to date on the ASME standards we understand that this is incorrect. Therefore, we instruct all of our clients that only the rope slings have a strength rating of 75% of vertical capacity of a choker hitch, while most all other slings have an 80% strength of vertical capacity with a choker hitch.
A Qualified Rigger should know these guidelines inside and out. Here are some highlights:
The new guidelines for maintaining written records of periodic inspections of slings include:
New language regarding minimum requirements for riggers assigned to load handling activities. These include ensuring the weight of the load and center of gravity).
New Qualified Rigger Responsibility section discusses the knowledge of sling angles and how this affects sling tension to avoid overloading.
A new chapter specifically discusses High-Performance Round Slings that includes training, components, removal and operating/rigging practices.
There is now a specific language for slings that have been in storage or idle for more than a year.
Removal criteria for wire rope slings in regards to broken wires. Remember, strand laid or single part slings may have up to 10 randomly distributed broken wires in one rope lay or 5 broken wires in one strand in one rope lay.
These are just a few highlights of the new standards that some instructors and training companies may not be aware of. We would recommend that a qualified person within your company acquire the new standards or sign up for our Qualified Rigger & Signal Person and Supervisor Crane & Rigging Awareness training. Therefore, our training focuses on more than just standards and we have a hands-on interactive approach. For more on the dangers of not keeping up to date on OSHA standards, check out our blog on Suspended Loads.
Visit our website for more information and to view our class schedule.
