Side pulling of load with cranes is dangerous. Yes Indeed SIDE PULLING of load with a Crane or Hoist is dangerous and should be avoided. As per the standards also Side/Taper pulling is not allowed. Side Pulling refers to load being pulled sideways instead of lifting vertically from the Center and then moving horizontally. Cranes and hoists are not designed for taper pulling.

Side pulling can lead to several safety hazards and potential risks, including

1. Wire Rope Damage : Side pulling can cause  immediate stress on the wire rope causing it to snap immediately.
2. Pendulum Effect : The Load when lifted from side, tends to swing in pendulum in uncontrolled manner.. This can cause serious accidents and damage to the human and machinery below and around the crane.
3. Strain on Hoist Components : Premature Failure of gearboxes / bearings / motor /wheel and other critical components will happen. An additional stress will be induced in these parts causing them to fail at that moment or later.
4. Structural Damage : side pulling will definitely cause excessive horizontal force on the crane structure for which it is not designed. It will lead to damage and earlier failures of the crane.
5. Instability of Crane: Repeated side pulling of the cranes can cause permanent deformations in the crane structure which can cause crane to skew and ultimately fall down from the gantry girders.

Reasons why SIDE Pulling is done. Important for the seniors to understand and act.

1. Lack of Training and awareness : not deploying trained operators can be a damaging. And one of the detriment is side pulling of the loads.
2. Lack of Space : EOT Cranes are not able to occupy the full floor space and hence sometimes when the loaded is kept on unapproachable areas then the side pulling is done. This is dangerous and should be avoided under all circumstances. Use of adequate instruments for handling loads in such area should be adopted.
3. Crane not working: It could be that the crane is not working in a particular portion of the bay and hence the operator decides to side pull the load. This is again dangerous, in case the crane is malfunctioning, it should immediately be informed to maintenance persons and get the crane rectified.
4. Pulling from another Bay : A very bad practice is to pull and drag load from other bay to this bay using Cranes. This can cause catastrophic damages to the crane and the workers working under the crane. A simple transfer trolley can solve this problem, and should be purchased.
5. Side pulling is more so done in a hoist, as the load is not kept on the path of the hoist. Designer of the building should keep these pointers and ensure that the hoist/crane lifts the load vertically.

So side pulling is dangerous and should not be done. To ensure the safe operation of EOT cranes and prevent accidents, operators and workers must be trained to follow proper lifting procedures, avoid side pulling. Reva Cranes does maintenance training for maintenance and operators once in a year. Please do visit Contact for the next dates or call us to know more about it. It is a must attend program for all operators and maintenance persons to avoid any mishaps and increase the life of the crane. Further get a free printed flex of the safety poster and train your operators and the maintenance persons on the important pointers.