August 3, 1998

MEMORANDUM FOR All Staff in Building 235

Subject:    Crane Safety

A crane use incident occurred recently at the SPINS instrument in the guide hall. The analyzer lid, which was being supported by the crane, fell several feet onto the analyzer housing. This incident could easily have led to serious injury. The load release occurred when the support cable slipped off the crane hook, presumably because the cable had not been properly slipped past the safety catch on the hook.

As the result of the review of this incident, several actions are being taken to improve crane safety at this facility. Only personnel who have had crane training are allowed to operate crane, or attach cables to equipment. Specifically, any visitor or staff member who has not taken our training may not participate in attachment of cables or other rigging. I remind everyone that improper rigging is the most common cause of crane accidents. All staff must be retrained within the next 90 days, and in future, retraining will required every two years. Improper crane usage (swinging of load, improper cable usage, etc.) may require retraining or result in loss of crane use privileges as deemed appropriate. (The retraining will include information on use of the new instrument cranes now being installed on several instruments in the guide hall.)

In addition, the analyzer lips for both BT2 and SPINS triple axis instruments are being rebuilt in several pieces, with each piece being light enough to be manually removed. This will eliminate the need for crane use in instrument configuration, and minimize the possibility of incidents. We will continue to look for ways to reduce crane usage; however, we rely on you to perform all activities safely.

Last modified 02-April-2002