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In many plants the hoist is documented without a gap and the beam below it is not. That is no formality: lifting accessories are products in their own right with their own obligations – and they fail differently from the device they hang on.
A lifting accessory is anything sitting between hoist and load that is not part of the hoist – beam, gripper, C-hook, vacuum lifter, prism cradle. Under the machinery regulation these are products in their own right: with their own risk assessment, declaration of conformity, marking and instructions. Anyone building a gripper in-house becomes the manufacturer of that item – even if they never sell it.
Periodic inspection does not look for beauty but for the four things by which lifting accessories fail. Load-bearing welds, wear at suspension and pins, the function of the safety devices and the legibility of the marking. On friction-based attachments, testing the holding function on pressure loss is added – the point that in practice has most often failed silently.
Periodic inspection is carried out by a competent person – someone with the training, experience and current practice needed for it. That can be your own employee; it need not be an external service provider. What matters is that the competence can be evidenced and that the person genuinely has the freedom to withdraw an item from service. The inspection is documented; keeping the records is the operator obligation.
The annual inspection is the smaller half. Most damage arises and becomes visible between two inspections: a cracked jaw, a hardened sealing lip, a bent safety catch. So every operating instruction should include a visual check before the shift – thirty seconds on which most failures hang. It only works, though, if it is clear to whom a finding is reported and who may take the item out of service.
It happens with the best intentions: the gripper gets adapted. A jaw extended, a pad welded on, a hole drilled so a new part fits. That changes capacity, centre of gravity and load path – and the old declaration of conformity no longer covers what is hanging there. Every change to a load-bearing part belongs assessed, calculated and documented before it goes into service.
| Inspection | When | By whom |
|---|---|---|
| Visual check | before every shift | operator |
| Periodic inspection | at least annually | competent person |
| Inspection after modification | before return to service | competent person |
| Inspection after an incident | before return to service | competent person |
| Initial inspection | before first use | manufacturer or competent person |
No. The lifting accessory is a separate product with its own marking and its own evidence. It also fails differently: on the device, drive and brake wear; on the gripper, welds, pins and seals. Both belong in the same inspection plan, but as two items.
You are the manufacturer of that item, even for exclusively in-house use. That involves risk assessment, calculation of the load-bearing parts, marking with capacity and dead weight, instructions and a declaration of conformity. It is feasible, but it has to be done.
At least until the next inspection, but in practice over the life of the item – the history shows wear trends a single inspection cannot see. We recommend keeping records together with drawing and calculation in one place.
It comes with marking, instructions and declaration of conformity – your obligation begins with use: intended use, inspection plan, instruction of staff. As soon as you modify it or use it outside the manufacturer specifications, responsibility passes to you.
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ViewManaging Director, Entracon Planungsgesellschaft mbH
Engineer with a doctorate, specialising in plant engineering, digital design and process automation – from simulation through to commissioning.
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