Workplace Safety Alert: How Can We Prevent Future Rigging Accidents?

Please take a moment to review the attached report. Let's be proactive in implementing measures to prevent similar accidents in your work area.

Thank you.

Please find the attached safe slinging guide. Maybe this will help in preventing accidents.

Thanks to Dipil and Raghu for sharing.

Regards,
Sudhir

Dear Friends,

Reinvestigating the Case

The accident is described as a failure of the wire rope sling. Did the rope snap? The answer is “NO!” Most probably, the wire rope was attached using wire rope clips, and the splicing gave way, as I see in the picture.

Now, the wire rope capacity is calculated as D² x 8 = 12 x 12 x 8 = 2048 kg = 2.048 tonnes. The wire rope will have a factor of safety of 6. There is no chance of the wire rope giving way for the assumed load of 1.4 tonnes.

In many cases, the wire rope joints are not made properly, resulting in failures and subsequent accidents. The question is how to splice a wire rope using wire rope clips. Most riggers, if not trained, will use fewer clips than required, put clips in the wrong direction, or change the direction of alternate clips. There is a correct way to do this job, and that is the only way to splice the wire rope using clips. They should also know how many clips are required depending on the diameter of the wire rope.

The investigation of this accident has not brought out the desired result. They are still following the Domino theory of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions, which will not improve safety performance.

Regards,
Kesava Pillai

Thank you for coming up with your valuable findings and suggestions. As this is a Safety Alert, we can't always expect to get the real picture. Maybe sometimes what happened in actuality is not written by the companies. You are also well aware of this due to our laws and legal problems. Companies may only provide data that will not put them in danger. However, they are focusing more on the recommendation part and trying to prevent the recurrence. They have mentioned some internal document reference numbers like FPE 9, etc., which may contain more detailed safety precautions that need to be followed for such jobs.

I fully agree with your views on the incorrect fixing of the bulldog clip as one of the causes of this accident.

Attachment: Pictorial Representation of Bulldog Clips

I am attaching a slide showing a pictorial representation of the safe/unsafe fixing of bulldog clips onto a wire rope sling as supportive data to what Kesava Pillai, sir, quoted. I am sure this will help some of the members of our forum.

Regards