LEEA Chief Executive Derrick Bailes writes every month in Hoist magazine

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Since 2001, Derrick Bailes, chief executive of the Lifting Equipment Engineers' Association, has advised the industry on the best way to choose, inspect, use and maintain hoists, cranes and rigging equipment. Now, for the first time, his monthly columns have been brought together in one place.
 

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LiftEx 2008 - The Lifting Gear Exhibition

21st November 2008

at the Kassam Stadium, Oxford, England

Our fourth year and biggest yet with 43 stands available.

Exhibitors - A super venue with good access for visitors. Stand bookings now being taken. Discount for early booking. Click on the links below for details of the exhibition and a stand booking form.

Link to stand booking information

Link to exhibition floor plan

Visitors - A date for your diary. Open 9.00am until 2.00pm. An excellent opportunity to meet many of the key industry suppliers at a single venue. Good access, massive free car parking and free admission. Refreshment available. Click the link below for a visitor pass

Link to visitor pass

We have recently been informed about a new scam. It works as follows:

A very attractive order from overseas is placed and paid for by credit card. The payment includes an amount for freight and insurance which the purchaser wants remitting as a cash payment, usually through Western Union. The credit card turns out to be stolen and payment is blocked. By that time the cash has already been sent and lost.

The LEEA has move to new offices at:

3, Osprey Court

Kingfisher Way

Hinchingbrooke Business Park

Huntingdon

PE29 6FN

Tel: + 44 (0) 1480 432801

Fax: + 44 (0) 1480 436314

The UK's Work at Height Regulations have been published as Statutory Instrument 2005 No 735 and come into force on 6th April 2005.

The Regulations are available on the HMSO web site from the following link: LINK TO REGULATIONS

The LEEA issues the following statement to clarify the Safety Alert issued on 8 February by Lloyd's Register EMEA. A pdf version of this statement is available for download and printing from the following link. LINK TO STATEMENT

To all members of the LEEA and their customers

You are probably aware of a recent safety alert from Lloyd's Register EMEA concerning flat webbing slings and, in particular, the two layer design also known as a duplex. The alert arose because samples of such slings from two manufacturers failed under test at a factor of safety well below that required by BS EN 1492-1: 2000 and paragraph 4.1.2.5 (c) of Annex 1 of the Machinery Directive 98/37/EC. Neither of these manufacturers is a member of the LEEA.

Unfortunately the safety alert contained some misleading information which, however well intentioned, has given rise to considerable concern amongst users whilst also failing to address the real issues exposed by these failures. As a consequence several members have had serviceable equipment rejected at considerable financial loss.

The LEEA therefore wish to clarify the situation so that confidence in good quality flat woven webbing slings can be restored.

First we wish to clearly state that flat woven webbing slings made fully in compliance with BS EN 1492-1: 2000 are perfectly safe when used correctly.

Second BS EN 1492-1 does NOT require the short tail of a duplex sling to be located in a particular position within that part of the sling between the eyes. Table 2 illustrates one of the commonly used positions but this is not a requirement. Lloyd's Register EMEA have since confirmed that they accept this point. The safety alert was therefore incorrect in suggesting that the position of the short tail contributed to the failures.

From the information we have received, the real cause of the failure was that the verification procedures of the standard had not been properly complied with. In particular, the type tests required by sections 6.2 and 6.3 of the standard had not been made on representative samples of the slings. The definition of a representative sample clearly states that it may differ from the production sling in length only. In addition there is evidence that there were also problems with the quality of the stitching on the production slings which may have contributed to the failures.

The LEEA has continuously promoted good technical standards in the industry and emphasised that quality should always come before price in any procurement decision. We recognise that it is often difficult for the end user to evaluate quality for themselves, hence the value of specifying equipment to a harmonised European standard where such standards exist, which they do for most general purpose lifting accessories. Regrettably there is some equipment on the market which purports to be in compliance with a standard but is not, which is why we also emphasise the value of dealing only with reputable manufacturers and suppliers and being cautious about the quality of unusually low cost equipment. The LEEA also brings non-compliant equipment to the attention of the enforcing authorities and encourages them to take action against offenders whenever possible.

Derrick Bailes – Chief Executive