MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
Solutions SpotlightFor members of MHI’s Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI), emphasizing safe work practices involving the use of hoists is always top‑of‑mind.
“From providing materials such as fact sheets and tip cards to OSHA and continuing to strengthen our relationship with this body, to examining dos and don’ts of hoist use at the user level, HMI makes safe working practices a consistent priority,” says Robert Beightol, director, marketing for MHI member Gorbel Inc. and HMI’s president.
In addition to this work, HMI develops user seminars as part of the MHI Overhead Alliance, which combines the extensive reach of organizations in the hoist, crane and monorail sectors, Beightol says.
Many HMI manufacturers produce fall arrest systems that are suitable for personnel and designed for the exact job being performed.
“As part of its work, HMI periodically highlights unsafe practices in the field with a goal of awareness and change in practices,” he says. “This quarter, we examine the use of hoists for guided loads and utilizing hoists for the transport of personnel. Both of these practices can be unsafe for a variety of reasons.”
Hoist end users often ask if the hoists produced by HMI member companies are suitable for lifting guided loads or for lifting, lowering or supporting personnel, says Bob Burkey, senior engineering advisor for MHI member Columbus McKinnon Corp. and a member of the HMI technical committee.
“Many end users assume that if they have sufficient hoist capacity to provide a very high margin of safety, that these applications are acceptable,” Burkey says. “However, this is not the case.”
First, there are regulatory requirements to consider, he says. HMI member companies produce hoists for material handling applications that meet OSHA and ASME B30.16 Safety Standard requirements. OSHA cites the ASME B30 Standards that includes the ASME B30.16 Safety Standard for Overhead, Underhung and Stationary Hoists, which states that hoists designed and built to this standard are suitable for vertical lifting and lowering of freely suspended, unguided loads that consist of equipment and materials.
“Hoists designed and built for lifting a guided load or personnel are not covered by this standard,” Burkey says. “Therefore, using hoists designed and built to comply with the ASME B30.16 standard for lifting guided loads or personnel is a violation of OSHA regulations.”
Examples of guided loads are elevators, doors, dam gates and platforms, though any time the load is restrained from centering itself under the hoist when lifted, it should be considered a guided load, he says. Guided loads have the potential of dragging or jamming in the upward or downward direction.
“If the load drags or jams going up, it will result in an overload of the hoist and supporting structure that could result in a failure and a dropped load,” Burkey says. “If the load drags or jams going down, it will result in the hoist continuing in the downward direction and paying out slack rope or chain between the hoist and the load.”
Then, if the load releases, it will fall against the slack rope or chain, impacting the hoist and supporting structure, which could result in a failure and a dropped load, he says.
“Hoists built to the ASME B30.16 Safety Standard do not have the features required to function properly in these applications and should never be used in these applications,” Burkey says.
Elevators and platforms are a type of guided load that present additional hazards beyond the upward or downward jamming risks inherent in a guided load application, he says.
First, elevators and platforms have a very high potential of transporting or supporting personnel even when this was not their intended use. Therefore lifting, lowering or supporting an elevator or platform with a hoist designed to meet the ASME B30.16 Safety Standard is in violation of OSHA regulations and the ASME B30.16 Safety Standard, which prohibits lifting, lowering or supporting personnel with these hoists.
Second, a suspended elevator or platform can be loaded at elevated positions where the hoist is supporting the load, Burkey says. Many material handling hoists are equipped with an overload device that prevents the lifting of an overload that might damage the hoist and supporting structure.
“However, in the case of an elevator or platform in an elevated position, if a load is placed on the elevator or platform that exceeds the trigger point of the overload device, the device could release, dropping the elevator or platform,” he says. “This scenario is another example of why a hoist designed for material handling should never be used to lift, lower or support an elevator or platform.”