Safe Use of Winches and Hoists

The lifting and pulling of heavy items has been made very easy now due to the blessing of current technology. At the beginning people used to hoist and lift heavy items using hand-made ropes with wooden or bamboo supports. As the technology grows, people learned to use gears for manual handling of materials. Now electrical and air winches complete with semi-automated hoisting system are available in many industries as well as in the electronics market.
We can see many uses of modern electrical, air type as well as manual chain hoists and winches in the ships everywhere in the world. Most modern ships come with semi-automated hoists.
However, the best use of Hoists and Winches must comply with personal and industrial safety.
If you are one of the hoist and winch operators, you have to be alert of accidents that can occur from an operation of this equipment.
General guidelines in terms of safety and security on using winches and hoists is below;
1. While the Hoist and Winch Operator starts the machine, he needs to check the performance of levers, pedals, and throttles in order to stop, start, and regulate speeds of the hoist or winch drums in response to hand, bell, buzzer, telephone, loud speaker, dial indicators, cable marks that are necessary for a safe operation.
2. The signaler who also does rigging of the material that needs to be hoisted has to secure it properly so that it doesn't slip off. He must coordinate with the operator with correct signaling method implemented in that the work place.
Basically all work places have their standard rigging and signaling methods in place and all riggers, signalers and operators go through an organized training process prior to operation of these machines.
3. The communication between signaler and operator of a specific lifting operation is very important.
4. An operator of a winch and hoist must know if anything goes wrong before, after or during operation. Most machines have their own error reporting system built into the system. Skilled operators always monitor the performance of the machines.
5. It is also very important for the operators to keep clear communication with the rigger/signalers. Most accidents take place due to negligence of either operator or signaler or both.
We have evidence of a crane that collapsed which caused death of a worker due to improper maintenance of crane's winch wire.
6. An operator must be able to see the signaler and the item wherever possible. In case the operator can't see the item being lifted or hoisted, a three point communication must be implemented. Three point communication means one signaler near the item, one at a place where the operator can see and the other point is the operator.
There are many other controls and methods need to apply during operation of dangerous hoisting. However the controls may varies in terms of size and position of the items.
In conclusion, safety is everyone's responsibility involved in the operation of hoisting or lifting.

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