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Tag lines and landing the load

Tag lines and landing the load

Cranes and rigging 5 min 29 CFR 1926.1425 · 29 CFR 1926.451

Ironwork

Why it matters

The last few feet of a pick are where hands and feet get crushed. A load spins, a gust catches it, and a worker grabs it with his hands or gets pinned against a wall. A tag line keeps you in control of the load from a safe distance.

The talk

Most of a crane lift is boring. The load goes up, it swings, it comes down. The danger piles up at the landing. Trusses, panels, and bundles catch the wind and start to turn. Somebody reaches up to grab a corner. The load drifts and pins his hand on the top of a wall or traps him against a column. Or two workers are under the load waiting for it, when only one needs to be there. Or a worker wraps the tag line around his wrist for a better grip, the load jerks, and the line pulls him off his feet or off the edge.

The crane standard keeps people out of the fall zone, the area where a load or part of it could land if it dropped. While a load is hanging still, only workers hooking, unhooking, guiding, or making the first connection can be inside it. Those workers need the load rigged so it can't shift, hooks with self-closing latches, and a qualified rigger who rigged it. While a load is being landed, only the workers needed to receive it can be in the zone. When a swinging load goes onto or near a scaffold, use tag lines or something equal to control it.

Here is how to run a tag line well. Tie it on the ground before the pick, at a point that lets you turn the load. Keep the line long enough that you stay out from under the load. Hold it with an open hand and let it slide if the load jerks. Never wrap it around your hand, wrist, or body. Stand where you won't be trapped between the load and a wall, a column, or a stack of material. Watch your footing and the edge. Let the load settle and stop before you put hands on it. If the wind is turning the load harder than you can hold, let go and call stop.

Key points

  1. The landing is the most dangerous part of most picks.
  2. Stay out of the fall zone unless you are hooking, unhooking, guiding, or connecting.
  3. Only the workers needed to receive the load stay in the zone while it lands.
  4. Loads over workers need secure rigging, latched hooks, and a qualified rigger.
  5. Use tag lines to control swinging loads, and always near scaffolds.
  6. Never wrap a tag line around your hand, wrist, or body.
  7. Do not stand where the load can pin you.

Do this

  • Tie the tag line on the ground before the lift.
  • Use a line long enough to keep you out from under the load.
  • Hold the line with an open hand so it can slide.
  • Let the load settle before you put hands on it.
  • Let go and call stop if the load pulls harder than you can hold.

Do not do this

  • Do not grab a swinging load with your hands.
  • Do not wrap the line around your hand or wrist.
  • Do not stand between the load and a wall, column, or stack.
  • Do not wait under the load before it arrives.
  • Do not crowd the landing area if you are not receiving the load.

Talk about it

  1. Which of today's loads will catch the wind, and who is on the tag lines?
  2. Where will the receivers stand so the load can't pin them?

This is a short crew briefing. It does not replace a competent person, training, or the law.

Training aid only. This talk is not legal advice. It does not replace your company's safety program, a competent person, the equipment maker's instructions, or the OSHA standard itself.

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