Full Description

This General Guide provides information on how to manage the risks of cranes at a workplace. It is supported by specific guides on tower cranes, mobile cranes, inspecting and maintaining cranes, and information sheets on:

• Bridge and gantry cranes
• Vehicle loading cranes
• Vessel-mounted cranes
• Crane-lifted work boxes
• Using other powered mobile plant as a crane, and
• Quick-hitches for earthmoving machinery.

What is a crane?

A crane is an item of plant intended for raising or lowering a load and moving it horizontally including the supporting structure of the crane and its foundations.

There are a range of ‘fixed’ (tower, bridge, gantry, portal boom, vessel-mounted) and ‘mobile’ (slewing, non-slewing, vehicle loading) cranes.

A range of multi-purpose powered mobile plant including multi-purpose tool carriers and telescopic handlers may be classed as cranes in some operating configurations.

Further crane related definitions are in Appendix A.

Who should use this Guide?

You should use this guide if you own, hire, lease, handle, store, transport, maintain or manage the use of a crane in the workplace.

Who has duties under the law?

Everyone in the workplace has a work health and safety duty. A range of people have specific responsibilities for cranes including the:

• crane designer, manufacturer, importer and/or supplier
• crane owner and other persons with management or control of the crane or the workplace where a crane will operate
• competent person who inspects cranes, and
• crane operator.

The main duties are set out in Table 1.