W. Va. Code R. § 36-23-28

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 36-23-28 - Rigging Equipment for Material Handling

28.1. General.

(a) Rigging equipment for material handling shall be inspected by a competent person prior to use on each shift and as neces­sary during its use to ensure that it is safe. Defective rigging equipment shall be removed from service.

(b) Rigging equipment shall not be loaded in excess of its recommended safe working load, as prescribed in Tables 7 through 26 in Section 29 of these regulations.

(c) Rigging equipment, when not in use, shall be removed from the immediate work area so as not to present a hazard to employees.

(d) Special custom design grabs, hooks, clamps, or other lifting accessories, for such units as modular panels, prefabricat­ed structures and similar materials, shall be marked to indicate the safe working loads and shall be proof-tested prior to use to one hun­dred twenty-five percent (125%) of their rated load.

(e) Special containers shall be used to hoist small materials such as, bolts, rivets, tools, etc. and such containers shall be capable of safely supporting intended loads, such container shall not be over-filled to allow spillage while being hoist­ed.

28.2. Alloy steel chains.

(a) Welded alloy steel chain slings shall have permanently affixed durable identi­fication stating size, grade, rated capacity, and sling manufacturer.

(b) Hooks, rings, oblong links, pear­shaped links, welded or mechanical coupling links, or other attachments, when used with alloy steel chains, shall have a rated capacity at least equal to that of the chain.

(c) Job or shop hooks and links, or makeshift fasteners, formed from bolts, rods, etc., or other such attachments shall not be used.

(d) Rated capacity (working load limit) for alloy steel chain slings shall conform to the values shown in Table 7.

(e) Whenever wear at any point of any chain link exceeds that shown in Table 8, the assembly shall be removed from service.

28.3. Wire rope.

(a) Tables 9 through 20 shall be used to determine the safe working loads of various sizes and classifications of improved plow steel wire rope slings with various types of termi­nals. For sizes, classifications, and grades not included in these tables, the safe working load recommended by the manufacturer for specif­ic, identifiable products shall be followed, provided that a safety factor of not less than five (5) is maintained.

(b) Protruding ends of strands in splices on slings and bridles shall be covered or blunted.

(c) Wire rope shall not be secured by knots, except on haul back lines on scrapers.

(d) The following limitations shall apply to the use of wire ropes:

(1) An eye splice made in any wire rope shall have not less than three (3) full tucks. However, this requirement shall not operate to preclude the use of another form of splice or connection which can be shown to be as efficient and which is not otherwise prohib­ited.

(2) Except for eye splices in the ends of wires and for endless rope slings, each wire rope used in hoisting or lowering, or in pulling loads, shall consist of one (1) continu­ous piece without knot or splice.

(3) Eyes in wire rope bridles, slings, or bull wires shall not be formed by wire rope clips or knots.

(4) Wire rope shall not be used if, in any length of eight (8) diameters, the total number of visible broken wires exceeds ten (10) percent of the total number of wires, or if the rope shows other signs of excessible wear, corrosion, or defect.

(e) When U-bolt wire rope clips are used to form eyes, Table 26 shall be used to determine the number and packing of clips.

(1) When used for eye splices, the U-bolt shall be applied so that the "U" section is in contact with the dead end of the rope.

28.4. Natural rope, and synthetic fiber.

(a) General. When using natural or synthetic fiber rope slings, Tables 21, 22, 23 and 24 shall apply.

(b) All splices in rope slings provided by the employer shall be made in accordance with fiber rope manufacturers recommenda­tions.

(1) In manila rope, eye splices shall contain at least three (3) full tucks, and short splices shall contain at least six (6) full tucks (three (3) on each side of the centerline of the splice).

(2) In laid synthetic fiber rope, eye splices shall contain at least four (4) full tucks, and short splices shall contain at least eight (8) full tucks (four (4) on each side of the centerline of the splice).

(3) Strand end tails shall not be trimm­ed short (flush with the surface of the rope) immediately adjacent to the full tucks. This precaution applies to both eye and short splices and all types of fiber rope. For fiber ropes under one (1) inch diameter, the tails shall project at least six (6) rope diameters beyond the last full tuck. For fiber ropes one (1) inch diameter and larger, the tails shall project at least six (6) inches beyond the last full tuck. In applications where the project­ing tails may be objectionable, the tails shall be tapered and spliced into the body of the rope using at least two (2) additional tucks (which will require a trial length of approxi­mately six (6) rope diameters beyond the last full tuck).

(4) Knots shall not be used in lieu of splices.

28.5. Synthetic webbing (nylon, polyester, and polypropylene).

(a) The employer shall have each synthetic web sling marked or coded to show:

(1) Name or trademark of manu­facturer;

(2) Rated capacities for the type of hitch;

(3) Type of material.

(b) Rated capacity shall not be ex­ceeded.

28.6. Shackles and hooks.

(a) Table 25 shall be used to deter­mine the safe working loads of various sizes of shackles, except that higher safe working loads are permissible when recommended by the manufacturer for specific identifiable prod­ucts, provided that a safety factor of not less than five (5) is maintained.

(b) The manufacturer's recommenda­tions shall be followed in determining the safe working loads of the various sizes and types of specific and identifiable hooks. All hooks for which no applicable manufacturer's recom­mendations are available shall be tested to twice the intended safe working load before they are initially put into use. The employer shall maintain a record of the dates and results of such tests.

(c) Inspections.

(1) In addition to the inspection required of this section, a thorough periodic inspection of alloy steel chain slings in use shall be made on a regular basis, to be deter­mined on the basis of:

(i) Frequency of sling use;

(ii) Severity of service con­ditions;

(iii) Nature of lifts being made; and

(iv) Experience gained on the service life of slings used in similar cir­cumstances. Such inspection shall in no event be at intervals greater than once every twelve (12) months.

(2) The employer shall make and maintain a record of the most recent month in which each alloy steel chain sling was thor­oughly inspected, and shall make such record available for examination. Chains shall not be used to rig load to be hoisted. This does not prevent the use of chain fill on chain hoists for test purposes.

(d) Safe operating practices. When­ever any sling is used, the following practices shall be observed.

(1) Slings shall not be shortened with knots or bolts or other make-shift devic­es.

(2) Sling legs shall not be kinked.

(3) Slings used in a basket hitch shall have the loads balanced to prevent slip­page.

(4) Slings shall be padded or protected from the sharp edges of their loads.

(5) Hands or fingers shall not be placed between the sling and its load while the sling is being tightened around the load.

(6) Shock loading is prohibited.

(7) A sling shall not be pulled from under a load when the load is resting on the sling.

(e) Minimum sling lengths.

(1) Cable laid and six (6) x nine­teen (19) and six (6) x thirty-seven (37) slings shall have a minimum clear length of wire rope ten (10) times the component rope diameter between splices, sleeves or end fittings.

(2) Braided slings shall have a minimum clear length of wire rope forty (40) times the component rope diameter between the loops or end fittings.

(3) Cable laid grommets, strands laid grommets and endless slings shall have a minimum circumferential length of ninety-six (96) times their body diameter.

Safe operating temperatures. Fiber core wire rope slings of all grades shall be permanently removed from service if they are exposed to temperatures in excess of two hundred degrees (200) F. When nonfiber core wire rope slings of any grade are used at temperatures above four hundred degrees (400) F. or below sixty degrees (60) F., recommen­dations of the sling manufacturer regarding use at that temperature shall be followed.

End attachments.

(i) Welding of end attach­ments, except covers to thimbles, shall be performed prior to the assembly of the sling.

(ii) All welded end attach­ments shall not be used unless proof tested by the manufacture or equivalent entity at twice their rated capacity prior to initial use. The employer shall retain a certificate of the proof test, and make it available for examination.

(f) Natural and synthetic fiber type slings.

(1) Safe operating temperatures. Natural and synthetic fiber rope slings, except wet frozen slings, may be used in a tempera­ture rated from minus twenty degrees (20) to plus one hundred eighty degrees (180) F. without decreasing the working load limit. For operations providing this temperature range and for set frozen slings, the sling man­ufacturer's recommendations shall be followed.

(2) Splicing. Spliced fiber rope hoists shall not be used unless they have been spliced in accordance with the following mini­mum requirements and in accordance with any additional recommendations of the manufac­turer:

(i) Fiber rope slings shall have a minimum clear length of rope between eye splices equal to ten (10) times the rope diameter.

(ii) Clamps not designed specifically for fiber ropes shall not be used for splicing.

(3) End attachments. Fiber rope slings shall not be used if end attachments in contact with rope have sharp edges or projec­tions.

(4) Removal from service. Natu­ral and synthetic fiber rope sling shall be immediately removed from service if any of the following conditions are present:

(i) Abnormal wear;

(ii) Powdered fiber between strands;

(iii) Broken or cut fibers;

(iv) Variations in the size or roundness of strands;

(v) Discoloration or rotting;

(vi) Distortion of hardware in the sling.

(5) Webbing. Synthetic webbing shall be of uniform thickness and width and salvage edges shall not be split from the web­bing's width.

(6) Fittings. Fittings shall be:

(i) Of a minimum breaking streng­th equal to that of the sling; and

(ii) Free of all sharp edges that could in any way damage the webbing.

(7) Attachment of end fittings to webbing and formation of eyes.

Stitching shall be the only meth­od used to attach end fittings to webbing and to form eyes. The thread shall be in an even pattern and contain a sufficient number of stitches to develop the full breaking strength of the sling.

(8) Environmental conditions. When synthetic web slings are used, the fol­lowing precautions shall be taken:

(i) Nylon web slings shall not be used where fumes, vapors, sprays, mists or liquids of acids or phenolics are present.

(ii) Polyester and poly­propylene webslings shall not be used where fumes, vapors, sprays, mists or liquids of caustics are present.

(iii) Web slings with alumi­num fittings shall not be used where fumes, vapors, sprays, mists or liquids of caustics are present.

(9) Safe operating temperatures. Synthetic web slings of polyester and nylon shall not be used at temperatures in excess of one hundred eighty degrees (180) F. Poly­propylene web slings shall not be used in temperatures in excess of two hundred degrees (200) F.

(10) Removal from service. Synthetic web slings shall be immediately removed from service if any of the following conditions are present:

(i) Acid or caustic burns;

(ii) Melting or charring of any part of the sling surface;

(iii) Snags, punctures, tears or cuts;

(iv) Broken or worn stitches; or

(v) Distortion of fittings.

(11) Scope. This section applies to slings used in conjunction with other mate­rial handling equipment for the movement of material by hoisting, in employments covered by this part. The types of slings covered are those made from alloy steel chain, wire rope, metal mesh, natural or synthetic fiber rope (conventional three (3) strand construction), and synthetic web (nylon, polyes­ter, and polypropylene).

W. Va. Code R. § 36-23-28