Confined Space and Power Hoisting?
 

Power Hoisting for Confined Space????
Can it be done? Should it be done? Is it being done? If so, how is it being done?

Can it be done? Have you ever tried to raise a 250 lb person 50 ft vertically in 5 minutes or less using any of the current man lifts?
Its tuff even for a man in his mid twenties, that’s 1 foot per 6 seconds for 5 minutes.

Should it be done? What about lifting with excessive force possibly causing crippling injuries? OSHA clearly addresses that
and states No boom crane, Overhead Crane, Backhoe or Fork lift can be used to lift personnel for confined space because these
lifting devices can and will lift with active force and can cause injuries. Why can’t I use a Simple Boat Hand Winch? Well because it
too can lift with excessive force. Man lift winches have been designed to limit the force through mechanical means. One means is the
use of a slip clutch or special gear reduction.

Is it being done? Yes and for many years, the window washing industry, ship building yards, and in the mining industry have been
power-hoisting personnel. There is no way that a person could be raised from a 1000-ft shaft using a hand-operated hoist.

How is it done? We contacted J.Nigel Ellis, Ph.D., P.E., CSP, CPE Founder of RTC Corp. and a co-author of Federal Standard 1910.146 (Confined Space), and asked what were the standards? What were the hazards of power hoisting and his thoughts on addressing these hazards?

First: We developed our Load Limiter© which pins to the end of the bumper’s Davit arm and senses the weight on the lifting cable
and can shut off the hoist’s lifting signal at 350 lbs. of payload.

Second: We also have a special hoist drum, a B.L.G.L.© that is capable of meeting the 3,200 lb. minimum anchoring point that IS required for Man rating.

Third: We have a “back –up” manual winch system that is also required should the power hoist become unresponsive. We have this Back –up system mounted back away from the edge of the manhole in order to reduce the risk of the rescuer falling in to the manhole.

Fourth: The Sto-Away® also has built-in fall protection that will catch him/her in 2 feet or less should the entrant slip & fall while
he/she has decided to climb out of the manhole and finds a broken or missing step.

Fifth: A “keyed authorized – two handed” over ride switch should the hoist be needed to raise two people at once.

Sixth: A custom steering wheel Lock- Out and Tag - Out system so that the entrant can lock out the truck when the Sto-Away® is being used as a man lift.

Is Sto-away® Power Crane’s Bumper crane OSHA certified?

OSHA certifies NOTHING.

They are a regulatory branch of the Federal Government. OSHA sets the minimum standards that must be meant for occupational
health and safety in work places within the United States. OSHA can and will fine a company and may shut down the company if
they do not meet these standards.

Since OSHA doesn’t certify equipment; NO One can say that they are OSHA certified.

What they can say is that their equipment and /or procedures is OSHA compliant, and state what regulation standards they meet.

OSHA clearly states that NO CRANE can be used to lift personnel, it doesn’t matter if it is powered or a manual hand crank,
Period. Cranes have no safe guards for protecting the worker from being pulled apart. Without a load limiting system on the
hoist you can’t use it. It only makes sense; a crane is designed to lift to its maximum capacity and nothing less.

How does the Sto-Away® address this OSHA standard?

There are manual hand powered retrieval systems in use today that use a slip clutch or special gear reductions and or both to
control the maximum lifting force that is placed on the worker. This is how these manufacturers comply with the OSHA standards.
The current Tripod systems are a good example of this.

Sto-Away’s® Confined space package (CSR-A series Cranes) complies with the OSHA standards by developing a special load
cell system that pins to the Sto-Away’s davit* arm’s tip and can measure the amount of lifting force the hoist is exerting at the hook. Which this achieves the same end result as a slip clutch or special gear reduction of the tripods.

At 350 lbs. or less the load cell shuts down the upward movement of the hoist thus protecting the worker.

The best way to protect yourself and your employees is with knowledge. I strongly recommend that you visit OSHA.org and your
 own state’s OSHA site for more information before you invest in any product for lifting personnel.

Learn – evaluate – then invest.

* A Davit arm system is an alternative to a Tripod for manhole entry