Good afternoon, I would really appreciate if someone could provide me with the above mentioned. Some people say 8 ton, other 15. I would rather use 60% of the SWL of the lifting equipment. It seems that there is no set definition by a competent body. For your information, Heavy Lift Operations are part of section 6A Offshore Operations - Specialised Activities of the Offshore Vessel Management and Self Assessment (OVMSA). This states, for example, that "procedures are in place for the formal planning of all heavy lifts and their transportations, whether using crane, A-frame or lift vessel." This implies a clear definition of what a heavy lift is. Thanks very much in advance for your help regarding this matter. Kind regards.

Thanks Walker for your prompt reply; this is well appreciated. I have also had a look at LOLER and BS 7121 but, as you have noticed, there is not proper reference to a "heavy" lift. I believe my best bet is to contact OCIMF and see what they tell me...

I am with you, Alex. I think it is non-sense to say that a heavy lift is anything above 8 ton or 15. Why not 12.58 instead? The point is some of my colleagues have asked me the following: why 60% of SWL instead of 75% for example? Where did you get this from? LOLER? I have not been able to answer... I have always seen this figure used to define some kind of complex lift but without any reference to any official document. I have just sent an e-mail to OCIMF and I will let you know what they tell me.

Try OGP Report No. 376 'Lifting and hoidsting safety recommended practice'. Appendix 1 gives an example lift categorisation scheme, including definition of 'heavy lift' as in excess of 90% of rated capacity'.

Thank goodness nobody has suggested that a heavy lift could be defined simply as the opposite of a light lift, as this might have led to a flurry of responses arguing about what constitutes a light lift!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) [multi-smileys added to emphasise that the above comments should not be taken too seriously. As my earlier attempts to post non-mutating mega-smileys on this forum failed, they've been abandoned in favour of multi-smileys! :-) ]

Bob Thanks once again for your straight forward answer. I think the original poster was in an offshore scenario. Like you said use LOLER or any other system that controls and identifys the hazards to ensure you are using equipment capable of doing the task.