What is a Hoist Inspection?
A Hoist Inspection is the daily, weekly, or monthly assessment of a lifting/lowering device commonly used in construction sites. Inspections are performed to determine the hoist’s working condition, identify necessary repair and maintenance work, and ensure it is safe for use. They are typically performed by hoist operators, compliance officers, and designated maintenance personnel. Failure to diligently perform hoist inspection duties could result in non-compliance fines from OSHA, and equipment failure that can cause fatal injuries and lost productivity.
Hoist Inspection
Top 5 Things to Remember for Effective Hoist Inspections
Construction is a high-risk industry, and it becomes even more so when safety measures are taken for granted. An effective hoist inspection policy can minimize risk, ensure legal compliance, and maximize productivity. Here are the top 5 things construction professionals need to remember for effective hoist inspections.
Always perform pre-use checks
One of the best safety practices for construction machinery in general are pre-use checks. These inspections are essential since numerous external factors could have caused a change in the hoist’s state since its last inspection. A pre-use check can help operators identify issues before they cause serious problems.
Adhere to scheduled inspections
OSHA requires cranes and hoists to be inspected once a year at the minimum. However, it is common practice for construction teams to do pre-use, daily, weekly, and monthly inspections to ensure safety. Regardless of how your team sets the interval for inspections, it is essential that you follow them to maximize their effectiveness. Having measures to remind operators of scheduled inspections can go a long way to ensure compliance with safety policies.
Communicate and address identified issues asap
After identifying issues with the hoist, immediate action must be taken to resolve them. Getting the information across to the right people asap is important so that accidents and operational setbacks do not occur. It is best to have a protocol for communicating needed repair and maintenance work protocol for communicating needed repair and maintenance work as they are discovered to ensure that nothing is missed.
Ensure that your inspection checklist is simple, but sufficient
Overly complex inspection checklists that have too many steps may end up being skipped altogether due to the hassle of completing them. Make sure that your inspection checklists ask for only the most relevant information so you can keep them short but effective. Download free pre-made hoist inspection checklists here or customize them to fit your business needs and preferences.
Compile and organize your inspection data for easy access and insights
By organizing inspection data, construction teams may identify recurring issues and gain added insights. This can help teams root-causes so they can solve for the problem, and not the symptoms.
