Using Lifting Slings to Handle Heavy Loads
There is a wide variety of equipment available to assist with material handling. This includes cranes, powered industrial trucks and hoists.
A thorough mobility evaluation is essential to determine the type of transfer that a patient requires. This should include their medical condition, need for trunk stability and head support.
Tubular Slings
While paracord is great for plenty of uses, when heavy loads enter the equation, you need a more rugged solution. That’s where tubular nylon slings come in. Made from a complete loop of premium 1″ tubular webbing, these slings can be used to build anchors, extend cams, or secure equipment. They are lightweight and feature low stretch (about 3% at their rated capacity), lifting slings so they can conform to the shape of the load to grip securely. Plus, their soft cover won’t scratch the load surface.
They can be used to restrain odd-sized loads, and their design allows you to adjust the tension of the sling quickly. They also feature a wide range of sizes to accommodate various applications and load capacities. The slings’ high-tenacity polyester construction makes them highly resistant to abrasion and cut damage. They’re a popular choice for steel warehouses, constructions sites, and machine shops because of their versatility, safety, and temperature resistance.
However, like any other sling, they’re subject to damage from sharp corners or edges. In the event of damage, the slings’ jackets can be easily repaired by applying a patch and proof-testing it. They’re color coded to make it easy to identify their safe working load limits in different environments. You should also be aware that putting excessive stress on any type of lifting sling reduces its maximum breaking strength.
Big Bag Slings
Big bag slings (also known as cloverleaf slings) are designed to lift bags of bulk cargo such as cements, sugars and grains. The sling’s soft polyester significantly reduces surface damage to fragile loads. They are a safe alternative to rough Chain Wire Rope Slings, especially where surface damage is not acceptable.
These slings are lightweight, with one eye each end and can be custom made to your specific requirements – including the number of eyes, length and width options. They are easy to engage with a crane lifting hooks due to their handles and can also be remotely engaged. They can also be fitted with a wear sleeve for protection and longevity.
Like all synthetic slings, wire rope slings can kink and have to be checked for damage regularly. Occupational Health and Safety guidelines recommend discarding any sling that exhibits broken wires, severe locational bruising or evidence of heat damage.
If you’re looking for a heavy duty lifting sling, then look no further than the huge range of industrial and general purpose slings at Lift-It Manufacturing. In addition to standard webbing slings, we can provide you with specialised drum slings, gas cylinder slings, adjustable slings and tool bags. Our slings are used by the rail, mining, energy and transportation industries, as well as for crane and rigging jobs.
Double Band Slings
A double band sling has two independent paths of webbing working as one, providing the rigger with extra security should one path be compromised. This feature combined with a precise length tolerance and only 1% elongation at capacity makes these slings ideal for engineered lifts.
These slings are used with Guldmann ceiling hoists and mobile lifters to assist in transfers to ensure comfort, dignity and safety for both the user and care provider. The sling has a small surface area, making it easy to position on the user’s Lifting Slings Manufacturer side, and helps to reduce strain for the care provider when turning the patient.
Using an asymmetrical design, these slings can be easily converted to a single-point sling by connecting one end to a QD hub positioned near the opposite end of the sling. This makes these slings suitable for a variety of scenarios and allows the user to choose their preferred configuration depending on the circumstances.
This type of sling offers the versatility of a tubular sling but is able to conform to almost any shape. It’s ideal for use with a snatch block and winch hook in recovery operations or when the sling is going to be looped around an axle on a vehicle recovery job. These slings are available in various lengths and are made from tough nylon webbing.
Braided Slings
Many heavy industrial and construction tasks require lifting large loads. These include transporting and loading heavy machinery, equipment and products. These operations can be a regular part of the work activities on a construction site, shipyard or marine project. This requires the use of a variety of rigging equipment for load shifting and handling. One such rigging device used for these heavy duty lifts is a braided wire rope sling. Also known as multi-part wire slings, they are fabricated from small component wire ropes braided together into an eye and eye sling configuration. These slings offer high capacity lifting capabilities and are resistant to kinking.
These slings can be easily rigged in multiple configurations for different applications and are often used to lift round loads with sharp corners or edges. The slings are made from a synthetic material and can be very flexible and mould themselves to the shape of the load. However, these slings do not provide good heat resistance and should not be used in high temperature applications.
When choosing a sling, there are a number of factors that should be taken into account to ensure safety and reliability. These include determining the load weight and mode factor for the specific application, visual inspection of the sling for any signs of damage and ensuring that all assembly links and connections are in place and correct. In addition, it is important to know the sling’s rated capacity for the lifting method and the manufacturer information.