What are your obligations?
WorkSafe Victoria have determined that “Major inspections are a critical part of any maintenance program”. The Australian Standard for crane safe use states that “a major Inspection is required after two thirds of the design life specified by the manufacturer or the original design standard or, where this is unknown after 7 years of use”.
A full copy of the standard can be purchased and downloaded from Standards Australia.
To find out how this impacts your business call (03) 9763 4332 or contact us via email.
A crane owner or manager typically has two conflicting responsibilities:
- Meeting their ‘duty of care’ obligations to provide a safe workplace. For cranes this requires compliance with the applicable Australian crane standards AS1418 and AS2550 along with all other publications and standards which provide the industries ‘current body of knowledge’.
- Ensuring that crane inspection activities are performed efficiently in order to minimise costs and maximise the return on their crane asset.
OK, So what does that mean to you as a crane owner and/or manager…
It is the crane manager’s responsibility to ensure that a major inspection scope is adequate.
Simply engaging a crane service company does not satisfy this requirement or transfer accountability. WorkSafe Victoria provides guidance that “you should not accept a major inspection that is not thorough or complete, or you may be operating unsafe cranes or machinery”.