New trains of thought on lifting
Every so often lifting equipment fails, generating the kind of headlines that no one wants to see. These unfortunate incidents occur despite safety checks carried out by the manufacturer and further regular checks undertaken by the end user, in accordance with the respective regulations. However, a high proportion of accidents can be prevented, if the operator pays more care and attention. For this reason, issues such as load stability and operator positioning are becoming hot topics in the world of cranes, lift trucks, hoists and mobile elevating work platforms.
Lifiting and Handling - The LOLER lowdown
Wherever there is lifting equipment there will be safety issues. In December 1998 the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) came into force to help reduce the risk and occurrence of accidents through the continuing integrity of lifting equipment. LOLER covers essentially any plant that lifts, wherever the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 applies. The onus is on the user, manager or owner of the equipment to ensure compliance. Plant engineers should therefore be familiar with their full duties under the regulations and would be well advised to refer to the Regulations and accompanying Code of Practice. While a number of pamphlet guides have been published, including one by the Health and Safety Executive, the regulations are detailed: in the opinion of Robin Burden, an independent health, safety and quality advisor who has worked with lifting plant suppliers such as JLG, "LOLER does leave some room for manoeuvre."
SED Preview - The great outdoors
If you want to see construction plant and machinery demonstrated in as near as possible realistic working conditions, as opposed to simply static displays, Site Equipment Demonstration (SED) is the show for you. It has the largest assembly of plant, tools, equipment and accessories available in one place in the UK - making it the premier event for the industry.
Steelworks saves thousands on bearings
Savings of a staggering _372,558 per annum are being reported on an annealing process line accumulator sheave at a major UK steelworks, following bespoke redesign of the bearing assembly.
Game,set and match
The famous Wimbledon sliding roof is often held up as a triumph of engineering ingenuity. Brian Tinham takes us behind the scenes, with its designers
An inspector calls
If you speak to engineer surveyors across the industry, chances are they'll mention two trends - one slightly surprising, the other plain worrying. On the surprising side of the equation, they'll probably mention that only now are some clients realising that the periodic inspections carried out for them are not just for insurance purposes, but also a regulatory requirement. As for the worrying point, inspectors will also tell you that far too many organisations are now relying far too heavily on them as a substitute for maintenance engineers.
Driven world
Unless you're heavily involved in project work, chances are your experience of drives, motors and controls is wide - after all, it's bread and butter stuff - but not as wide as it could be. So a quick update would be useful. Especially if it turned out that you could be saving time and money, and/or improving plant controls.