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Hiring the Best Heavy Construction Equipment: Everything to Consider


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Hiring the Best Heavy Construction Equipment: Everything to Consider

If you are hiring heavy construction equipment for your business, there are so many things you need to consider, from driver training to safety features, from cost to supplemental insurance, and, of course, there are many other factors to consider. Hi, my name is Dave, and I used to work in the oil fields. During that time, I ran almost every type of heavy machinery you can imagine, and I also saw a lot of mistakes being made. I learned a lot, and now that I am semi-retired, I want to share a lot of that info. Before you hire a heavy machine, take a look at these posts.

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How to Prevent the 3 Most Common Causes of Crane Borer Accidents

Cranes are the centre of many construction and industrial projects. Crane borers, in particular, are useful when you need to perform tasks such as getting electric poles on the ground, or when they need to be removed and replaced. Unfortunately, cranes are often at the centre of many construction-related accidents, and this mostly happens because people rarely follow all the safety regulations put in place for their operations. Here are the three things that you must remember when operating the machinery.

Proper rigging

One of the main causes of accidents in the warehousing and even boring environment is when loads are dropped midway through a lift. Improper rigging is one of the reasons why this happens. To prevent this from happening, you should always strive to rig all loads that you are lifting according to standard procedure. Inspect all the rigging elements, including chain links and hooks. If there are any hooks that look bent out of place, avoid using them. When rigging the load, make sure that its angle is close to zero.

Preventing boom collapse

When the weight of the load is too large, the boom might end up collapsing. All commercial cranes are sold with weight limits, and when you lift loads which are heavier than the stated limit, critical failure may result. To avoid boom collapse, you have to ensure that all posted weight limits are adhered to. Other problems which could arise as a result of overloading the boom include the load tipping and dropped loads, which could hurt people and destroy other objects.

Protection from overhead power lines

If the project you are undertaking is not related to electricity, you might not have gotten the permission to de-energise the power lines which are close to your construction site. This could pose an electrocution hazard when the boom is lifted so high that it touches the power lines. Remember that the crane parts are made of metals which can conduct electric current -- this could mean serious injuries and death. Steer clear of power lines when lifting, and also ensure that if you will get too close to the lines, you ask for the lines to be de-energised.

Safety is very important when operating cranes and in a warehouse or construction environment. As long as the manufacturers manual is followed and the boom operators are sensitised on the importance of safety, projects will run without hitches.