SafeCrane - Owners

You are responsible for working with the Crane Users to plan the work, ensuring the Crane, Operators and Dogman remain safe at all times while getting the job done.

Crane safety is a team effort. It involves complete co-operation and communication
between all personnel involved with the crane and lifting operations.

As the Crane Owner you must be fully aware of your responsibilities for the crane and lifting operations.

Your responsibilities are specified in:

As the owner you must ensure that all statutory regulations relating to cranes, associated equipment and lifting operations are observed.
The best starting point to learn these requirements is to read item 4 above (ACOP for Cranes).

In the ACOP for Cranes you will learn that you are the Controller (under the PECPR Regulations, means a person who is the owner, lessee, sub lessee, or bailee of any equipment in a Workplace) and therefore you have special duties that you can read about here.

The Controller

As the Controller you must ensure that your management and supervisors ensure that your workers who prepare the crane and ancillary equipment, maintain it, operate it and work with or around it are well trained in both safety and operating procedures.

A responsible crane owner develops and fosters a programme of accident prevention measures and controls including:

effective operator training in equipment familiarity
effective instruction in how to prevent crane accidents
effective equipment preventive maintenance.

Your attitude as the owner has a tremendous impact on how “tight a ship” is run by crane personnel on the job. In companies where the owner tends to have a lax attitude towards equipment maintenance and safety, other people involved - being all too human - tend to reflect the same attitude.

CRANE SAFETY IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS –

THE MANUFACTURER,
THE OWNER,
THE USER,
THE OPERATOR,
THE DOGMAN / RIGGER.

Operators

As the Crane Owner it is essential to have competent and careful Operators who are physically and mentally fit and possess good judgement, vision and co-ordination.

Any person who lacks these basic essential qualities should not be allowed to operate a crane. Operators must be thoroughly trained in the safe operation of the equipment and the handling of loads.

Key Elements for Crane Safety are

Safety
Planning
Training
Maintenance

As the Controller you have overall responsibility for safety, planning, training and maintenance.

Safety
Safety starts with understanding your responsibilities. There are a number of resources available listed on this page. But the most valuable resource as an owner is to develop relationships with your peers. The Crane Association of New Zealand (Inc.) was created by owners for this purpose.

Planning
Planning is critical in safe crane operation. As the owner your planning should cover:

Crane Inspection and Certification
Rigging Inspection and Certification
Record Keeping & Reporting
Preventative Maintenance
Operator Training
Lift Plans

Training
Education is vital for a safe operation. As the owner you are responsible for training. There are a number of resources available to help in this process, the most important ones being:

The Crane Safety Manual for Operators and Dogman
Skills - The Crane Industry Training Organisation
Crane Training Providers

As the owner you must ensure that all Workers dealing with or operating cranes are adequately trained.

Maintenance
The maintenance of your crane is critical to the safe lifting of loads. As a responsible owner, operation and maintenance manuals must be readily available and followed by Workers in charge of the safe operation and maintenance of the crane.

Crane Safety must never be compromised