1.5.12 WIRE ROPES - GENERAL SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE
a. Regular inspection of ropes in service is essential if high standards of safety
are to be ensured, and the relevant test certificate must be obtained and
available.
b. All running ropes in continuous service should be visually inspected once
every working day by an authorised person.
c. A thorough inspection of all ropes in use should be made at least once a
month and a full written, dated and signed report of rope condition kept on file
and readily available.
d. Any deterioration resulting in appreciable loss of original strength, such as
described below, should be carefully noted and the rope should not be used
if any of the following situations are present:
i) Reduction of rope diameter below nominal diameter due to loss of core
support, internal or external corrosion or wear of outside wires.
ii) In any length of diameters, the total number of visible broken wires
exceeds five percent of the total number of wires in the rope.
iii) Corroded or broken wires at end-connections.
iv) Corroded, cracked, bent, worn or improperly applied end-connections.
v) Severe kinking, crushing, cutting or under stranding.
vi) Heavy wear and/or broken wires may occur in sections in contact with
equaliser sheaves, or other sheaves where rope travel is limited, or with
saddles. Particular care should be taken to inspect ropes at these
locations.
vii) All rope that has been idle for a period of a month or more due to
shutdown should be given a thorough inspection before it is placed in
service. This inspection should be for all types of deterioration and
should be performed by an authorised person whose approval should be
required before further use of the rope.
viii) Particular care should be taken in the inspection of non-rotation rope.
ix) Wire rope removed from service due to defects should be plainly marked
or identified as being unfit for further use on load carrying devices.
e. Upon receipt of wire ropes, whether they arrive in coil form or on reels, it is
advisable to examine, and if necessary remove, the outer protective
wrapping. This may have become wet during transit and, if left on the rope
local corrosion will appear in course of time. Ropes should be stored in a dry
atmosphere and preferably off the floor, on well seasoned timber.
To Next Page
Loading...