What Level of Inspection and Service is Required for Cranes?

Safe Work Australia state that a preventative inspection, maintenance and testing program will help ensure all Australian Cranes are safe to use.

What does this include?

Maintaining a crane involved a combination of pre-operational checks, routine inspections, regular maintenance, annual inspections, and major inspections.

A major inspection must be completed for registered mobile and tower cranes. Non-registrable mobile cranes and bridge and gantry cranes should have a regular ‘major’ inspection completed so that they continue to be safe to operate.

All other factors aside, you should inspect the crane at least every 10 years from the date the crane was first commissioned or registered, whichever was first. This must include inspection of the structure as well as mechanical components.

Major inspections must be carried out by, or under the supervision of, a competent person
who:

• has acquired through training, qualifications or experience the knowledge and skills to
• carry out a major inspection of the plant and is registered under a law that provides for
• the registration of professional engineers, or
• is determined by the regulator to be a competent person.

It should be noted that this requirements is not intended to mean that components only need to be inspected once every ten years, or that having been inspected, components are automatically fit for a further ten years. Annual and ongoing regular inspections and maintenance as listed above are still required.

For further information please see the Guide To Inspecting and Maintaining Cranes: Appendix A – Inspection / Testing for Tower and  Mobile Cranes