In 1996, the National Safety Council (NSC) declared June National Safety Month in the United States. Their goal was to decrease the number of unintentional injuries and deaths in homes and workplaces by increasing awareness of leading safety and health risks. Since then, June has become a time for many industries to reflect on workplace safety, share important tips, and examine areas that need improvement.

As with many organizations, safety is a top priority for LGH year-round, and there are several practices we have in place to ensure we’re maximizing safety with each rental. In honor of National Safety Month, this blog will give you an inside glimpse at 3 of the major processes LGH uses every day to ensure you’re renting safe and reliable rigging equipment.

#1 – Training

It’s no secret that, across industries, proper training is the cornerstone of safety. That’s why LGH invests time and financial resources into ensuring employees in all sectors receive adequate training to perform their job responsibilities. 

LGH warehouse staff undergo an extensive mix of video and in-person training for a period of six months. Technicians are provided with manufacturer’s training for servicing and chaining up equipment that meets or exceeds American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B30 standards. This ensures they are prepared and qualified to inspect, test, and certify gear. In addition, regional warehouse foremen must successfully pass the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) certification. Foremen are also trained to carry out a monthly safety audit of their rental centers.

LGH sales reps are held to a high training standard as well. They each take Industrial Training International (ITI) training that covers inspection and removal criteria for slings and all types of rigging hardware. In addition, they must also take the same ITI training that riggers take on subjects like load control, center of gravity, hitches and pick points, and sling tensions, among other things. Reps also participate in in-house LGH training, which goes over application training with equipment and teaches safe operations and troubleshooting of our gear. In all, new sales reps receive well over 100 hours of training in their first 12 months with LGH.

#2 – RFID Tags

A newer safety strategy that LGH implemented a few years back was the addition of RFID tags for every piece of equipment, down to the smallest nut and bolt. The RFID tags work with LGH’s own software to digitally track every piece of equipment in our fleet throughout North America.

This technology is important since traditional equipment provides no means of tracking overloads, maintenance of internal parts – when applicable – or frequency of use outside of visual and manual logs. While effective, this method leaves a large margin for error, allowing for some pieces that are in high demand or infrequently used to potentially miss the mandatory annual inspection and certification and still find itself employed in field use. It’s when this situation arises that the rate of catastrophic failure drastically increases on the job site. Far too often, a company relies upon the belief that someone is keeping track of the equipment maintenance and that “the way it’s always been done” will be safe. That is, until the day it isn’t. 

The RFID system allows us to document maintenance logs, track repairs, determine statistics on each equipment type, review loads seen by the equipment, and more. Each piece of equipment is scanned when it goes out on rental and returns so that no important details go unnoticed.  

#3 – Inspect, Test, Certify, Rent, Repeat

The third key safety strategy that LGH has in place is to inspect, test, and certify every piece of equipment that returns to our warehouses after a rental concludes, per ASME and manufacturer guidelines.

The inbound process involves several steps.

• First, the unit is stripped down and the internal components are removed.
• Next, an inspection is performed on the piece of equipment and each of its parts, inside and out.
• Then, the unit is reassembled and tested to inspect for any additional issues.
• If the equipment has a chain, the chain is removed, then tumbled and cleaned to remove surface rust.
• After the chain is cleaned, an inspection is performed to verify there’s no excessive wear or stretching. This process makes the chain shine and appear new, but the main reason behind our method is that one cannot effectively and accurately inspect a chain for damage unless it is ultra-clean.
• At this point, the chain is sorted by size and stored appropriately until the next time it is required for hoisting equipment.

Once a piece of equipment passes certification and is deemed safe for field operation, it receives a fresh coat of paint and is re-shelved until the next rental, where the outgoing process begins.

Any piece of equipment that gets chained up is load tested per ASME’s recommendations. A computerized list of requirements must be checked off, and photos taken of the load test at the test stand. This requires our technicians to certify that the equipment is safe and able to do the job it is intended to do out in the field.

Conclusion

From internal auditing to the multi-step certification process, LGH is continually evolving and conforming to the highest industry standards to ensure we are keeping safety first.

We’re committed to making continuous investments in our people, our equipment, and our processes so we can supply you with safe and reliable rigging equipment.

If you found this article insightful, follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn for continued safety information throughout the month of June.