Lifting equipment

Hoists are machines that raise and lower loads. They include chain hoists, wire rope hoists and winches as well as balancers and the lifting units of manipulators; cranes are lifting machines that additionally move the load in one or more directions.

The German term “Hebezeug” is shaped by regulation. Winches, lifting and pulling devices fall under the accident prevention regulation DGUV Vorschrift 54, cranes under DGUV Vorschrift 52. Above both stands the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV): every hoist is work equipment whose safe use the employer has to ensure. In the UK, the corresponding rules are LOLER and PUWER.

Three things sit between hoist and load. They are often confused – and they are inspected and documented differently.

Hoists are driven by hand, electrically or pneumatically. By load-bearing element the main distinction is between chain hoists and wire rope hoists: the chain is robust and insensitive, the rope runs more smoothly and allows higher lifting speeds and capacities.

Besides capacity and height of lift, duty matters in the selection. Hoisting mechanisms are classified into mechanism groups derived from running time and load spectrum. A hoist classified for occasional use reaches the end of its calculated service life correspondingly earlier in multi-shift operation.

In Germany, hoists are inspected before first use and periodically thereafter. DGUV Vorschrift 54 specifies at least once a year; the BetrSichV requires type, scope and interval to be defined in the risk assessment. Heavy use or harsh conditions can shorten the interval. The inspection is carried out by a competent person and the result is recorded.

In addition there are the operator’s visual check before starting work, instruction of employees and maintenance to the manufacturer’s specification. When the theoretical service life of a power-driven hoisting mechanism is used up, a general overhaul is due.