Posted By Martin Grove
During a recent thorough examination of lifting equipment our Competent person informed us that Karabiners should not be used as a lifting accessory in our engineering applications. This seems somewhat odd as karabiners are used to lift people! Does anyone use karabiners for lifting anything other than people?

Posted By Dave Merchant
Functionally there's no reason they can't be used as a link in a lifting set, but there are a few legal questions to be aware of:-

- karabiners, as PPE, don't have a SWL marking but a minimum breaking load, so users must be able to determine the SWL/WLL under LOLER. Typically a karabiner will be happy taking 10% of the MBS without suffering any damage.

- if they're overloaded when used for lifting, they can of course be dangerous if returned to PPE duties (so it could be a one-way switch, but if they're used within their SWL they can change roles as often as they like).

- Be aware of load direction - a karabiner is only designed to take an in-line force between quite narrow ropes or straps, so shouldn't be used in a 3-way pull as you could with a bow shackle, or with very wide webbing.

- The karabiner will need a LOLER thorough examination (and report) as a lifting accessory instead of a PPE inspection. More boxes to fill in.