This document contains summaries of various incidents involving material handling and rigging failures that resulted in injuries or deaths. It provides definitions of rigging equipment and hitches, and summarizes OSHA regulations regarding inspection and safe use of slings, chains, wire ropes, and other rigging gear. Key points covered include load ratings, inspection criteria for removing defective equipment, and safe practices to prevent accidents like exceeding rated capacities or using improper sling angles.

1. OSHA Office of Training & Education 1
Safety Standards for Material Handling and Rigging
Only standards cited 5 times were
included Draft 10 30 2018

2. Mar 2018
Officials said reinforcing steel that was being
moved by a crane fell and landed on Michael
Tolman, 56, who was taken to Orlando
Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
He later died
2

3. Spreader bars
3

4. Jan 2018
How would you lift?
4 x 11 foot
300 pounds
5/8 inch
4

5. Jan 2018
Duggan Steel
5

6. Dec 2017
Beaumont TX
24 inch "incident pipe" that killed
Espinoza was more than 25 feet long
and "may have" weighed more than
4,400 pounds.
He said that the strap and hoist
connected to the pipe during the
inspection indicated it could cause the
pipe to swing or rotate.
Yesenia Espinoza, 31, was working on new
construction when the "piping that was
improperly rigged and handled" fatally hit her
in the head, the lawsuit
6

7. Dec 2017 How would you rig?
7

8. May 2018
8

9. Aug 2017
9

10. Jan 2017
Gunnebo Johnson Swivel eye hookCrosby Shur Loc
10

11. Chart
11

12. December 2016
• Chicago IL
• Two finger amputation
12

13. Dec 2016
Kenco Barrier Lift
13

14. Nov 2016
• New York City
• Crane operator George Smith, 47,
and worker Elizandro Ramos, 43,
were killed when the I-beam
plummeted onto the top of the cab
in Briarwood Tuesday.
• Winds were gusting at close to 40
mph at the time – above the legal
city limit of 30 mph to operate –
• The city officials said that the
rigging rope may have failed.
14

15. Apr 2016
15

16. Feb 2016
• Two workers were killed when a
generator fell on them at a
construction site in New Jersey
Thursday morning, officials said.
• The five-ton generator fell on
the workers at the site -- a future
fire station -- after a strap on the
crane lowering it snapped,
according to officials with the
Morris County Prosecutor's
Office.
16

17. Feb 2016
17

18. July 2015
• New Jersey Scaffold
• Photo Jimmy Cuellar
18

19. May 2015
• New York City
• The 23,000 pound air conditioner that fell 29
floors to Madison Avenue made the terrifying
plunge when an unstable floor buckled under the
unit’s enormous weight, causing the crane cables
to break, police said Monday. - NY Post
19

20. OSHA
• LOCATION: 261 Madison
Ave, New York, NY On or
about May 31, 2015
• A) The condensing section
of a 11,000 pound HVAC
unit was rigged by using 2
nylon web slings wrapped
around the base of the unit
.
• The slings were basket
rigged and the padding at
the edges/corner was
insufficient.
Officials say, "workers experienced a sudden
shaking and the floor buckling." There was a
weight shift and the air conditioning unit fell.
- ABC June 1
20

21. April 2015
• Cheshire NY
• Crane Operator died
• Two of the men working at the
construction site were shocked
by the electric charge.
• Investigators said the two men
were measuring the steel beam
when the crane hit the power
lines.
21

22. April 2015
• Using it to lift a person in a
basket
22

23. Basic Rigger
• Safely uses and recognizes the limitations of chain, synthetic,
metal mesh, and wire rope slings
• Safely uses and recognizes the limitations of specific rigging
hardware to include: hooks and similar attaching devices,
shackles, wire rope clips, clamps, eyebolts, softeners, and
taglines.
• Identifies common load configurations and positioning and
demonstrates specific knowledge of crane operations including
voice and radio
• Understands personal fall protection methods, emergency
procedures, and hazards and restrictions with working in
proximity to overhead electric lines and equipment
• NCCER.org
23

24. May 2016
• A 37-year-old Brownsville man working at the Beaumont
refinery died early Wednesday morning near a unit under
maintenance, officials said.
• The worker was struck in the head and neck area by piping that
was being removed from a heat exchanger,
24

25. April 2015
• Lifting a piece of pine about 5
foot long 18 inches across
• “the load made it to the ground
ok the hook of the biner caught
the strap and held till we
lowered it down.”
25

26. May 2014
• Providence RI
• 8 hurt in fall
• The US Occupational Safety and
Health Administration said the
rigging used put excessive weight
on a carabiner, causing the metal
loop to fail, and the acrobats, who
were hanging by their hair, to fall
15 to 20 feet to t
• According to OSHA, circus staff
violated both industry practice and
the manufacturer’s instructions for
using the carabiner by attaching it
so it was pulled in three directions,
rather than two.
26

27. Key Changes in Z359.1
• Section 3.2.1.4
• Gate face strength requirements
have changed from 220 lbs.
(1kN) (old Standard) to 3,600
lbs. (16kN) (new Standard).
27

28. MATERIALS STORED TO PREVENT SLIDING FALLING, OR COLLAPSE
9
9
10
17
18
251(a)(2)(i)
250(a)(1)
251(b)(1)
251(a)(1)
252(a)
Materials Handling, Storage, Use & Disposal
[1926.250 – 252]
28
GENERAL RIGGING EQUIPMENT IDENTIFICATION
EXTERIOR DROP CHUTES
RIGGING EQUIPMENT INSPECTION & REMOVAL FROM SERVICE
WELDED ALLOY STEEL CHAIN SLING IDENTIFICATION
SUBPARTH

29. General
• All materials stored in tiers shall
be stacked, racked, blocked,
interlocked, or otherwise
secured to prevent sliding, falling
or collapse
1926.250(a)(1)

30. Definitions
Hitch “Basket” - loading with the sling passed under
the load and both ends on the hook or a single
master link.

31. Definitions
Hitch “Choker” – loading with the sling passed
through one eye and suspended by the other.

32. Definitions
Hitch “Vertical” – loading with the the load
suspended vertically on a single part or leg of the
sling.

33. Definitions
Master link – a steel link or ring used to support all
legs of a chain or wire rope sling.
Must have identifiers such as:
Grade: 800
Working Load Limit: 3,600 lbs
Size: 13/32"

34. Definitions
• Kinked Sling

35. Definitions
Rated capacity – the maximum allowable working load.

36. Definitions
Mechanical Splice

37. Definitions
Hand Tucked Eye Splice

38. Definitions
Swaged Forged Eye

39. Rigging
• Rigging equipment for material
handling shall be inspected 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.
1926.251(a)(1)

40. Rigging
• Not be loaded in excess of its
recommended safe working load
as prescribed on the
identification markings by the
manufacturer;
1926.251(a)(2)(ii)

41. Rigging
• Each day before being used, the sling
and all fastenings and attachments
shall be inspected for damage or
defects by a competent person
designated by the employer.
• Damaged or defective slings shall be
immediately removed from service
1926.251(a)(6)

42. Rigging
• Synthetic webbing (nylon, polyester, and
polypropylene)
• Remove from service immediately if:
• Acid or caustic burns
• Melting or charring of any
part of the sling surface
• Snags, punctures, tears
or cuts
• Broken or worn stitches
• Distortion of fittings

43. Synthetic Slings
Holes, tears, cuts or snags
10/3/2018 43

44. Synthetic Slings
Knots
10/3/2018 44

45. Synthetic Slings
Cuts
10/3/2018 45

46. Rigging
• Welded alloy steel chain slings
shall have permanently affixed
durable identification stating
size, grade, rated capacity, and
sling manufacturer.
1926.251(b)(1)

47. Rigging
Only Grade 8 or better Alloy Chain can be used for overhead lifting
purposes! All chain is not rated the same!
Chain must have a capacity tag attached to it.
Chains will withstand more rough handling and abuse, but a chain
with the same rated lifting capacity of wire rope will be much
larger in diameter and heavier in weight

48. Chain Slings
• Four grades:
• Grade 28 General Utility Chain
• Grade 43 High Test Chain
• Grade 70 Binding Chain
• Grade 80 Alloy Steel Chain: The only one used for overhead
lifting
G 80

49. Rigging
• 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
1926.251(b)(6)(ii)

50. Rigging
• Wire rope slings shall have
permanently affixed, legible
identification markings stating size,
rated capacity for the type(s) of
hitch(es) used and the angle upon
which it is based, and the number
of legs if more than one.
1926.251(c)(16)

51. Note: A good operating practice is to keep sling angles from
going below 60 degrees
1000 LBS 1000 LBS 1000 LBS 1000 LBS
500LBS
500LBS
1000 LBS 1000 LBS
90 60° 45° 30°
Rigging Safety
Proper calculation of increased tension caused by
sling angles (on all rigging components!).

52. Loss Factor

53. ANSI standards
• ASME non-inspection standards
• ASME B30.5: Mobile and Locomotive Crane
• ASME B30.9: Slings
• ASME B30.10: Hooks
• ASME B30.20: Below-the-Hook Lifting Devices
• ASME B30.26: Rigging Hardware

54. Disposal
• Whenever materials are dropped
more than 20 feet to any point
lying outside the exterior walls of
the building, an enclosed chute of
wood, or equivalent material, shall
be used.
1926.252(a)

55. Questions?