Overhead Crane Inspection

An overhead crane inspection is the LOLER thorough examination that keeps your lifting installation safe and compliant. Safe-Lee examines electric overhead travelling cranes, gantry and semi-gantry cranes, jib cranes and pendant-controlled cranes for businesses across Manchester and the North West. We are independent, so our only interest is an accurate report you can rely on.

We plan the visit around your production, examine the crane through its full range of movement, and issue a clear report of thorough examination, typically within one to two working days. Where your site also runs slings, chains and other accessories, we examine those at the same time.

Engineering and fabrication workshops typically run overhead travelling cranes alongside jib cranes, electric chain hoists and the slings, chains and shackles used with them, each on its own LOLER interval. Some loads bring in other regimes too: a vacuum lifter hung from a gantry crane is work equipment under PUWER, the crane, lifting beam and slings are lifting equipment under LOLER, and the vacuum generator falls under PSSR if it operates above the pressure threshold. All three sets of records need to line up.

A crane examination covers the structure, the mechanism and the safety systems:

• Main structure, runway beams, end carriages and bracing, for cracks, corrosion and distortion
• Hoist unit: ropes or load chains, drum, sheaves and reeving, for wear and broken wires
• Hook and hook block, for throat opening, wear and free rotation
• Brakes on the hoist, cross-travel and long-travel motions
• Limit switches, end stops and overload protection
• Wheels, flanges and rail alignment
• Pendant, radio or cab controls, and the emergency stop

A thorough examination looks past the surface to the load-bearing and safety-critical parts, using measurement and function testing, and more detailed techniques where they are needed. The crane is operated through its movements as part of the examination, so brakes, limits and controls are checked working rather than judged by eye.

Accessories used with the crane are examined in their own right. Each sling, chain, shackle and eyebolt is checked for wear, deformation, damage and a legible safe working load, and confirmed against its certification.

LOLER sets the maximum interval between thorough examinations:

• Every 12 months for a crane used to lift goods
• Every 6 months where the crane is used to lift or lower people
• Every 6 months for lifting accessories used with it, such as slings, chains and shackles
• In line with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person, where one is in place
• Sooner after substantial repair, modification, or an exceptional event such as a shock load

A common mistake is to keep the crane on its 12 month cycle and forget the slings, chains and hooks used with it, which sit on the shorter 6 month interval and need their own place in the schedule. A thorough examination is also required after installation or reassembly, so a crane that has been moved or rebuilt is examined before it goes back into use.

On overhead cranes, the findings we most often record include:

• Broken wires, corrosion or reduced diameter in the hoist rope
• Hook throat opening or wear beyond the allowable limit
• Worn or glazed brake linings and slipping brakes
• Failed or misadjusted limit switches
• Wheel flange wear and runway misalignment
• Damaged pendant controls or a faulty emergency stop

Before the visit, it helps to have ready:

• A list of the cranes and hoists to be examined, with plant or serial numbers where they exist
• Previous reports of thorough examination, so we can see the history and the next due dates
• Safe access to the crane, the hoist unit and the runway, including any isolation, permits or escorts your site requires
• Someone who can operate the crane through its movements for the functional checks
• The slings, chains and other accessories gathered in one place, since each is examined individually

The crane is out of normal production while it is examined, so we plan the timing with you, including out of hours where that avoids disrupting production.

Each crane, and each accessory, gets its own report of thorough examination. It identifies the equipment by type and plant or serial number, states its safe working load, gives the dates of this examination and the last one, and sets the latest date for the next.

Read the defects first. A defect that is an existing or imminent danger means the crane must not be used until it is put right, and a booked repair alone is not enough to sign it back into service. A defect that could become a danger over time is given a timescale, and the repair has to be done within it.

Transfer the next due dates into your planning system as soon as the report arrives. The crane and its accessories will usually show different dates, and a clear report only confirms the crane was safe at the examination, up to the next due date.

Safe-Lee is an independent consultancy led by Engineer Surveyor Lee Charnock (EngTech MSOE MBES), and examinations are carried out by a qualified competent person. Reports are typically issued within one to two working days, and we cover Manchester and the North West. We do not sell or maintain cranes, so there is no pressure to overlook a defect.

For what shapes the price, see our LOLER inspection cost guide, and for the detail on what a competent person checks, our LOLER inspection checklist. More on our LOLER service.