Inspection, Maintenance, and Removal-from-Service Criteria
Core concepts
Inspection is a discipline of frequency, criteria, and documentation. Candidates must know: frequent vs. periodic inspection intervals, what constitutes a removal-from-service condition for slings, shackles, hooks, and wire rope, and the importance of tagging and recordkeeping. Key removal criteria include: broken wires, severe corrosion, kinking, crushing, bird-caging, heat damage, missing or illegible tags, and hooks with excessive throat opening or missing latches.
Traps in questions
- Assuming a sling is serviceable because it "looks fine" - check tags and specific criteria.
- Confusing frequent (daily/shift) with periodic (documented, interval-based) inspection.
- Overlooking heat damage on synthetic slings (glazing, stiffening).
- Returning a removed item to service without documented repair or destruction.
Rule of thumb
When in doubt, remove from service. Tag it, segregate it, and document. A removed sling must not re-enter service without authorized repair or destruction.
Worked example
A wire rope sling shows several broken wires concentrated in one strand over a short length, plus a kink. Both are removal criteria - the sling is tagged out and destroyed, not returned to the rack.