Crane Work

[Loler UK]

that's right paul BS 7121 is a riviting read at about £200 as well but it really is a great document, the crane industry uses slightly different terminology to us in arb with our RP's & CP's they have their AP's CP's CC's, CO's, CS's EO's etc you have to write a few method statements for the abriviations to come naturally

 

in brief:

a contract lift is when the employing organisation instructs a contractor (often the crane company but can be a 3rd party such as my-self) to cary out a contract lift and said contractor supplies the appointed person and is in charge of planning the lift a safe system of work and the control of the operation and are typically liable if it were to go wrong

a hired crane is when the employing organisation supplies the appointed person, sort the safe system of work, plan the lift etc AND check the credentials of the crane company, the crane company only has to supply a tested & maintained crane & a competent operator (crane driver) and if it goes wrong typically the EO is liable assuming that crane company have done theor bit of driver & maintained crane that is.

 

I was just contracted in as an appointed person on an arb crane job the other day the lift was in a tight spot, over a house with only 1.5 ft to play with on the back side of the tree and 8ft on the near side so little room for error on the final lift/s. when my client set out to source the crane he was asked if he wanted them to come as a hired crane or as a contractor for a contract lift and quoted an extra £475 to do it as a contract lift and would probably have sent a slinger/ crane supervisor out to the job as well as wrote the method statement, planned the lift etc.

 

increasingly crane companies are preferring to take work on as a contract lift unless they are satisfied that the appointed person that the EO has appointed is competent especially with complex lifts which with exception of lifting already cut timber from ground height arb crane jobs are. the crane operator was telling me several operators sent out on hires have had to refuse to work due to an inadequate safe system of work, needless to say the company that hired the crane weren't too happy and accused the crane company of trying to milk them for more cash.

 

I've always said that a trio of a climbing arborist, crane operator and crane supervisor/ slinger all of whom were well experienced working together with cranes on trees and doing so most days would be a very productive force, i'm not sure there's enough crane work about to warrant it though, shame