Mobile Crane Inspection Guidelines
for OSHA Compliance Officers
U.S. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
June 1994
This information booklet is intended to provided a generic, nonexhaustive
overview of a particular standards-related topic. This publication does not
itself alter or determine compliance responsibilities, which are set forth in
OSHA standards themselves and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Moreover, because interpretations and enforcement policy may change over time,
for additional guidance on OSHA compliance requirements, the reader should
consult current administrative interpretations and decisions by the
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the courts.
Material contained in this publication is in the public domain and may be
reproduced, fully or partially, without permission of the Federal Government.
Source credit is requested by not required.
This information will be made available to sensory impaired individuals
upon request.
Voice phone: (202) 219-8259;Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD)
message referral phone: 1-800-326-2577
This report was written by Anthony D. Brown
Mobile Crane Inspection Guidelines for OSHA Compliance Officers
U.S. Department of Labor
Robert B. Reich, Secretary
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Joseph Dear, Assistant Secretary
Office of Construction and Engineering
Charles G. Culver, Director
June 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABSTRACT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.0 INTRODUCTION
2.0 MOBILE CRANES
2.1 Lifting Principles
2.2 Operational Considerations
3.0 REQUIREMENTS FOR MOBILE CRANES
3.1 OSHA Construction Requirements
3.2 ASME/ANSI and PCSA Requirements
4.0 INSPECTING A MOBILE CRANE
4.1 Preinspection
4.2 Crane Setup
4.3 Electrical Hazards
4.4 Load Charts
4.5 Safe Operating Precautions
4.6 Inspection Types
4.7 Starting The Inspection
4.8 Specific Inspection Items and References
APPENDIX A - GENERAL TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
APPENDIX B - GENERAL LOAD CHARTS AND OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
APPENDIX C - BASIC CRANE COMPONENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Staff from the OSHA National Office provided assistance in
preparing this report. Mike Marshall and Chuck Hardesty, Office of
Construction and Engineering; Ted Twardowski, Office of Construction and Civil
Engineering Safety Standards provided initial information and reviewed
comments; James Calvert, Engineer in Training, typed and edited the report,
and developed charts, tables, and graphics for the report.
William Smith, Director of Safety and Health, International
Union of Operating Engineers;
Richard Giacin, Administrator, Local 478, International
Union of Operating Engineers, Meridan, CT.; and Scott Buck, Safety Director,
Local 150, International Union of Operating Engineers, Plainfield, IL,
contributed technical assistance, photographs and review comments throughout
the project.
Individual members of the ASME/ANSI B30 Committee, provided
technical information, materials, pictures and continual review comments.
Those members include:
Paul Zorich, U.S. Department of the Navy and Chair of the
B30 Committee; Theodore A. Christensen, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co; Bradley
D. Closson, President, North American Crane Bureau, West; James J. Headley,
President, Crane Institute of America, Inc.; Carson L. Huneycutt, Equipment
Operations Manager, J.A. Jones, Inc.; Edward E. Rudy, U.S. Department of the
Army; and Robert C. Wild, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A special thanks to Leon (Skip) S. Johnson, American
Equipment Company for his technical assistance and review comments and in
acquiring photographs and video footage of a simulated crane inspection on a
Flour Daniels, Inc., construction project in LA.
Steve Peterson, Training Manager, American Crane
Corporation, Dennis Eckstine, Director, Product Safety, Grove Corp., and Dan
Wolff, Manager for Engineering, National Crane Corp. for review comments and
technical assistance.
Tom Kollins, Vice President, Specialized Carriers and
Riggers Association, SC&RA, through the membership, provided assistance
and initial evaluation of contents and format.
ABSTRACT
This document provides background information about
lifting principles and serves as a guideline for inspecting mobile
construction cranes. The relationship of many components of cranes and their
inter-dependence in lifting operations, OSHA requirements for proper
maintenance schedules, and safe crane operations will be discussed in this
document.
This document contains a listing and description of major
components or operations to be considered or examined when inspecting lifting
equipment. Two types of commonly used cranes, a crawler lattice boom crane and
a hydraulic rough terrain crane, were selected as examples in developing these
guidelines. Descriptive text and photographs illustrate 18 inspection items
critical to most crane inspections.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OSHA compliance officers, project safety and health
managers, and insurance inspectors are often required to inspect construction
cranes. Inspections normally include lengthy checklists that identify
mechanical components and maintenance schedules without adequate descriptions
or explanations, pertinent to the relationship between these components and
the crane's overall function. Although some crane inspection checklist items are
self-explanatory, it must be recognized that due to increasing applications of
developing technology in the design and manufacture of cranes, OSHA compliance
officers need a better understanding of crane operations
and their basic lifting principles, and to keep abreast of
related developments in today's construction industry.
Since cranes affect a large segment of work at any
construction site, crane inspections by the compliance officer and project
safety manager must include a survey of the entire operation questions on how
the crane will be operating and how other crafts will be affected by working
with and around the crane.
Observing crane operations prior to an inspection, or
asking questions about how it will or has been operating, can indicate
possible problem areas that may need a closer review during the inspection
process.
This document provides an overview and background
information on lifting principles of mobile cranes for OSHA inspectors. Also
discussed is the relationship between various components of mobile cranes to
their lifting capacity and the manufacturers' requirements for conducting
proper maintenance schedules are also discussed.
TYPICAL CONSTRUCTION SITE
LOAD BLOCK LOWERED FOR INSPECTION
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