Safety-conscious companies across the Asia-Pacific are acutely aware of the need for standards compliance when it comes to their cranes and lifting equipment.
Companies in industries such as manufacturing, materials handling, mining, food and beverage, power generation and steel are focused on optimising the safety and reliability of the overhead cranes and lifting devices on which they rely for daily operations.
But as companies expand in size and have fleets of tens or even hundreds of cranes, it can be easy to miss one minor component of standards compliance, even if all due diligence is being taken to meet requirements, said global crane service and maintenance provider, Konecranes, which has more than 600,000 pieces of lifting equipment under service contract worldwide.
Consultation Service Manager, Konecranes Australia, Joseph Cefai said that the business is finding that even some dedicated safety and compliance managers may not realise there are additional procedures they aren’t aware of.
“They have been vigilantly ensuring their employees comply to the standards they know, but weren’t aware of several additional important rules,” said Joseph.
To fill the gap for time-poor but safety-conscious companies, Konecranes has introduced its auditing tool, Compliance Gap Analysis. It ensures that companies using cranes and lifting devices are comprehensively compliant.
Konecranes NSW Branch Manager of it’s Mayfield Branch, John Schatz said the tool presents a significant benefit to local businesses.
“Compliance Gap Analysis can provide great benefits to companies in the Newcastle and greater Hunter region, which has strong mining and energy generation industries,” John said.
“Companies in these industries are highly safety conscious and companies that we provide this service to want to ensure current crane operations and maintenance practices are in sync with applicable regulatory requirements and best practices. The net result is compliance gaps are identified and rectified, which in turn assists our customers with a path of achieving the highest lifecycle value possible.
Although he can’t name customers, John said that “the majority of companies that have used this service in the Hunter region have been in the energy, mining, manufacturing or steel making industries”.
The Compliance Gap Analysis process involves a team of Konecranes’ auditors visiting the company, touring the facility and creating a compliance review with an action plan for compliance.
“Expert Konecranes auditors look at entire maintenance programmes, as well as inspection methods, equipment usage, repair processes and structural reports to give a complete picture of operations and maintenance,” Joseph said.
“We often find, for example, that a business’ overhead travelling cranes are perfectly serviced and totally standards compliant, but their smaller workshop crane has been neglected, because it is often minimally used, or only used when other cranes are out of service or undergoing routine maintenance.
“It can also be seen as a reliability asset controller because it ensures that every asset is properly maintained and serviced, which will minimise downtime and improve productivity.
At the end of the day, the consequences of non-compliance are very high, so it’s just not worth it. In addition to penalties by regulatory authorities, if an employee or visitor is injured due to a non-compliant claim, that could change their life forever, and leave the company legally liable for the negligence.”
IMAGE | Konecranes’ Compliance Gap Analysis takes an in-depth look at all cranes and lifting equipment to ensure comprehensive standards compliance.
