Posted By Chris Cooper-Abbs
Can i ask what poeples thoughts are in regard to a worker riding on the hook of a crane to be placed into a work position? is anyone aware of any best practice or guidance in relation to this matter?

Many thaanks

Posted By gham
as long as his belt is strong enough or he can grip the hook for long enough

Just don't get caught

Posted By Smurfer
Use a man-basket suspended from the hook?

Posted By Salus
is the driver competent, have they had induction, ensure all inspections, examinations and tests have been completed for the crane and do both have cscs cards

Posted By Ian Mitchell
We all need to take a step back here. Can you give full details of exactly what is involved? How can we be sure that the person NEEDS to be in the work position described? What is he doing etc? Cheers Ian M

Posted By The toecap
Its down to risk assesment

Posted By p winter
Agree with last posting - this must be a wind up

Posted By Chris Cooper-Abbs
In no way was this a wind up post, it was a simple question looking for any potential guidance or best practice literature to answer the question posed.

In order to comply with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER), the British Standards Institution provides the code of practice BS7121.
This code of practice introduces the title of 'Appointed Person' - the competent person responsible for developing a safe system of work for every lifting operation.

As i am not an appointed person nor is this an operation that i am vastly experienced with, i had been asked the question by a colleague and in an effort to justify or support my response, rather than just give a simple no - i thought i would ask potentially more experienced or qualified persons.

For those who provide positive response thankyou.

Posted By Chris Cooper-Abbs
Jas,

Thank you for your post, the operation being undertaken is not a build, more a dismantle to be exact of a tree. The question was asked due to the fact that the crane is being used to lift trunk sections over the top of a house. The beech tree due for removal is in a very unstable state, the climber feels the tree is unsafe to climb and as an arborist would not be able to achieve a sound anchor point within the tree for his rope systems. The financial constraints of the job will not allow both a crane and MEWP to be bought onto site which of course would be ideal: the climber utilises the MEWP to choke the chains etc and then can make the felling cuts at ground level whilst the crane lifts the section away, in essence removing the tree in one. It was therefore asked if the climber could ride the hook of the crane to choke the chains into position higher within the canopy of the tree and then return to ground level to make the felling cut. In this instance the climber is in no danger of anchor point failure or tree failure whilst working aloft.

Posted By Martyn Hendrie
Taking on face value your assertion that this is not a wind up your use of the term "ride the hook" may be what is causing a concern.

This is work at height and the hierarchy of control would take you down the route

Can you do the work on the ground - NO
Can you provide a fully protected platform ???
If platform not reasonably practicable can you provide means of personal suspension - Possibly (Small man basket/ Boatswains chair/ troll harness)

Special requirements on crane in relation to man baskets and I have never known boatswains chairs or troll harness' used with a crane, but might be worth investigating.

Can the man put his foot in the hook and hold the hoist rope (mental image from your original posting) - NO

Hope this helps

Posted By Terry Jones
It is perfectly acceptable to utilise a crane for 2 purposes i.e. personnel lifting and load/cargo lifting, so long as the right equipment is used in both instances.
A bosun's chair is acceptable if used with a full safety harness/fall arrester. There are certain circumstances where the use of a secondary auxiliary line can be utilised to lift a person to sling the load, most cranes nowadays have 2 winches which enable this.
A crane will always out perform a M.E.W.P for access and reach anyway thus eliminating the use of 2 machines. To add a comment, yes agreed that there is special criteria to be met for personnel lifting but my point is that it is possible to lift a person safely with a crane, given the right circumstances and equipment.