CRANE CRITIQUE
CONSTRUCTION NEWS BULLETIN
CRANE STANDARDS Why are there so many?
A monthly crane and rigging informative column for all personnel directly or indirectly involved with crane safety. Each month we will attempt to explain a different technical issue pertaining to crane operations here on Guam, addressing the sometimes over-looked or misunderstood topics by management and operators alike. By Dave Barnhouse One of the most confusing issues regarding crane operations I find most operators have trouble understanding is the subject of which crane standard is applicable for the particular crane or operation he is involved with. This is understandable as some of the many different standard institutes and organizations worldwide cannot agree on the industry standard system. Many countries have their own standard system by national organization or sectors. European Crane Standards EN 13001 is causing quite the stir in the crane industry, mainly because of the function by-pass procedure and capacity percentages differences with the U.S. standards, making crane sales between the two regions difficult. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has approved two new standards that will help reduce the risk of accident to people and properties when crane operations are involved. Cranes – Inspections – Part 1: General, ISO 9927-1:2009, specifies the inspections to be carried out on cranes, excluding inspections carried out prior to first use. It covers inspection, methods of inspection, inspection personnel, precautions for inspection, and results of inspection. In an effort to promote effective crane inspections worldwide as well as remove technical barriers to the international trade in cranes, ISO 23814:2009, Cranes – Competency requirements for crane inspectors, addresses personnel performing periodic and exceptional inspections of these devices. Within this article lets concentrate on the crane standards that we are mostly 14 | FEBRUARY2018
involved with. Maybe three or four primary standards, but more like three or four dozen if you count them all. Let’s look at some of these codes and standards and test your knowledge. • The primary industry group, CMAA — Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Inc. — provides standards, specifications, market research initiatives, industry statistics, literature and publications. • The Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI), which is part of MHIA, provides a variety of Educational Materials, Marketing Information and Standards Development as they relate to hoisting equipment. • The Monorail Manufacturer’s Association (MMA) is another arm of MHIA that offers guidance and oversight for Enclosed Track workstation cranes and monorails as well as Patented Track and Profile Girder monorail systems. • MHIA (Material Handling Institute of America) NFPA 70, Article 610, Cranes and Hoists • The Power Crane & Shovel Association (PCSA) provides services tailored to meet the needs of the lattice boom and truck crane industry, (PCSA #2 incorporated by reference by OSHA 1926.1433(a). • The ASME B30 standards covers the types of vertical lifting equipment found in the majority of work environments including tower cranes, mobile cranes, and overhead cranes. It also addresses many other types of lifting equipment found in special work environments including detachable hardware for lifting www.guamcontractors.org
purposes, such as rigging, slings and below-the- hook lifting devices. • The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a privately funded federation of business and industry, standards developers, trade associations, labor unions, professional societies, consumers, academia, and government agencies. ANSI does not itself write standards. ASME is more inclined towards setting codes and standards for mechanical devices. ANSI accredits standards for the products, processes, systems, services, and resources of the United States. Most of the applicable ASME Standards are listed here: • ASME – B30.2, Overhead and Gantry Cranes (Top Running Bridge, Single or Multiple Girder, Top Running Hoist) • ASME – B30.3, Tower Cranes • ASME – B30.4, Portal Cranes Like Us On Facebook