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IMPORTANT
WARNINGS
Failure
to follow warnings and instructions can result
in serious injury or death.
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| WIRE
ROPE IS A MACHINE. Understand and
respect it. |
Like
any machine, it needs proper care and
maintenance for optimal safety and long service
life. For a better understanding of wire rope we
highly recommend the Wire Rope Users Manual by
the Wire Rope Technical Board. We have reprinted
some excerpts in these safety
pages. |
| Refer
to the General Warnings |
These
warnings also apply to wire rope. Only additional
warnings and information are listed below. |
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Rated
capacity is the load which a new wire rope may
handle under given operating conditions and at
assumed design factor. A design factor of 5 is
chosen most frequently for wire rope.
(Operating loads not to exceed 20% of catalog
Breaking Strength.) Operating loads may have
to be reduced when life, limb or valuable
property are at risk or other than new rope is
used. A design factor of 10 is usually chosen
when wire rope is used to carry personnel.
(Operating loads not to exceed 10% of catalog
Breaking Strength.)
Responsibility
for choosing a design factor rests with the
user.
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| Attachments
must have at least the same Working Load
Limit as the wire rope used. |
Clips,
sockets, thimbles, sleeves, hooks, links,
shackles, sheaves, blocks, etc. must match in
size, material and strength to provide adequate
safety protection. Proper installation is
crucial for maximum efficiency and safety. |
| Keep
out from under a raised load. |
Do
not operate load over people. Do not ride on
load. Conduct all lifting operations in such a
manner that if equipment were to fail or break,
no personnel would be injured. This means KEEP
OUT FROM UNDER A RAISED LOAD, DO NOT OPERATE
LOADS OVER PEOPLE AND KEEP OUT OF THE LINE OF
FORCE OF ANY LOAD. |
| Avoid
impacting, jerking or swinging of load. Working
Load limit will not apply in these circumstances
because a shock load is generally significantly
greater than the static load. |
| Inspect
wire rope regularly. |
Use
inspection instructions as guidelines only.
Additional technical information on wire rope
inspection can be obtained. Two of the most important
prerequisites for inspecting wire rope are
technical knowledge and experience.
Check
the general condition of the wire rope. Also,
look for localized damage and wear, especially
at wire rope attachments. Inspect all parts
that come in contact with the wire rope. Poor
performance of wire rope can often be traced
back to worn or wrong-sized sheaves, drums,
rollers, etc. Look for kinks, broken wires,
abrasions, lack of lubrication, rust damage,
crushing, reduction of diameter, stretch or
other obvious damage. If any of these
conditions exists or if there is any other
apparent damage to the wire rope, retire the
wire rope according to the instructions below.
When
in doubt about the extent of the damage,
retire the wire rope in question immediately.
Without laboratory analysis, it is impossible
to determine the strength of damaged or
used wire. Thus, you will not be able to tell
whether wire rope with any amount of damage is
safe to use. Retire the wire rope that is
damaged. For specific inspection procedures
check various OSHA and ANSI publications.
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| Destroy,
rather than discard, wire rope to be
retired. |
Wire
rope that is not destroyed might be used again
by someone not aware of the hazard associated
with that use. Destroying wire rope is best done
by cutting it up into short pieces. |
| Refer
to General Information on Wire Rope |
for
important characteristics and properties
of wire rope. |
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