Overheard a safety guy say something about wire rope that had me rethinking my whole inspection routine

I was standing at the supply counter last Tuesday waiting for a new block and I heard this old safety inspector talking to the guy behind the counter. He said most operators only check for broken wires and don't bother to look at how the rope is laying on the drum when it's under load. That stuck with me because I realized I've been doing exactly that for the past 8 years. Next day I took a good look at my main hoist line during a lift and saw some weird flattening on a few strands near the drum. I never would have caught it just walking around the crane before a job. Now I'm wondering how many other little things I'm missing because I'm in a routine. Has anyone else had a close call from something you thought you were checking but weren't really paying attention to?

3 comments

3 Comments

max2231mo ago

Wait, you mean you've been running with flattened strands and didn't notice?

murray.cora1mo ago

Mine were totally flat for weeks before I finally checked them in decent light.

vera1951mo ago

@max223 oh yeah, totally. I had a whole patch of dead strands for like two weeks and just thought it was bad lighting.