The Damaged Sling and the Unknown Load
You are asked to lift a steel fabrications crate from a lorry bed to a concrete pad 12 m away. The crate weighs, according to the delivery note, 1,100 kg, but the note also lists 'contents may vary'. The only slings available are two 2 m polyester webbing slings rated 2 t in a straight lift, one of which has a small nick in the outer sleeve near the middle and a faded label. The crate has no marked lifting points; you can see two steel lugs on the top edge. The lorry driver is in a hurry and says the lugs are 'definitely rated'. The telehandler is a 4 t capacity machine with a hook attachment.
1. Assess the slinging arrangement and state what you would and would not accept.
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Issues to resolve before any lift:
- Weight - the delivery note is not reliable ('contents may vary'). I would not lift on an assumed weight. The load must be confirmed (weighbridge, manufacturer's plate, or calculation from known contents) before selecting gear.
- Sling condition - the nicked sling must be taken out of service. Damage to the sleeve can hide damage to the load-bearing fibres, and a faded label means the rating cannot be verified. A sling without a legible rating is unusable.
- Sling configuration - two 2 t slings in a straight lift give 2 t each, but in a basket or choke the rating changes, and at an included angle the SWL per leg falls (at 90 degrees included angle, each leg carries about 0.71 of the load). The arrangement must be calculated for the actual angle, not assumed.
- Lifting points - the driver's assurance is not evidence. The lugs must be verified as designed lifting points (marked SWL, or confirmed by the fabricator). If not, the load must be slung another way (e.g. under the crate with protected slings and spreader), or refused.
- Load centre and radius - the hook attachment changes the load centre, which affects the telehandler's capacity at 12 m.
I would accept the lift only when weight is confirmed, sound rated slings of adequate capacity are used at a calculated angle, and the lifting points are verified. Otherwise I stop.
2. How would you plan the lift itself once the gear is sorted?
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Plan:
- Confirm the telehandler's capacity at the required radius and height with the hook attachment fitted, and check the load centre.
- Ensure the lorry bed and the landing pad are level and firm; the lorry may move as load comes off, so chock it.
- Establish a exclusion zone under and around the load; the driver and others stand clear.
- Use a banksman if the operator's view is obstructed.
- Lift slightly, pause, and check the load hangs level, the slings are not twisted or binding, and the machine is stable - then complete the lift.
- Land the load, set it down, and only then release tension and unhook.
- Keep the boom as low and retracted as the lift allows, and travel with the load low.
If at any point the load shifts, the machine feels light, or the slings slip, lower immediately and reassess.