Hi, This is not my area of expertise, any information or advice would be appreciated. Brief History prior to lift On the 17/11/15 the company I work for hired in a 16T crane from a local company, (Industry Approved). A lift plan was drawn up and approved by our A.P. The deputy site supervisor is certified and competent as a Crain Controller. During the lift our Crain Controller heard the rope parting and stopped the lift, this was them lowered back down 1. The rope did not break. 2. The CO failed to secure the load (7 Fills) I believe this is the terminology used, as per his statement My Question is: Is this RIDDOR Reportable under Dangerous Occurrence? Information received: As discussed on the phone this afternoon, we, have found this to be a High Potential near miss, and due to the nature have put together some controls to prevent re-occurrence. Also, due to our investigation findings and the subsequent rating of this incident as a high potential near miss I would like to give you some clarity on how we came to this conclusion. As per RIDDOR, Schedule 2 , Regulation 7 DANGEROUS OCCURRENCES PART 1 GENERAL Lifting equipment 1. The collapse, overturning or failure of any load-bearing part of any lifting equipment, other than an accessory for lifting. It is the opinion that, in this instance there was no failure of a load bearing part of lifting equipment. We acknowledge that damage was caused to the hoist rope due to not following standards and procedures and this was due to human error. Had , for example, the hoist rope failed completely or as it states in the regs, lifting equipment overturned/collapsed then this is where we would look at reporting via RIDDOR as a Dangerous Occurrence.

Personally I'd consider the rope to have failed if it started to physically part. Failure doesn't necessarily mean it snapped completely: any permanent deformation beyond the normal working limits of the material would constitute failure. The HSE add: "Failure in this context refers to components which suffer mechanical breakdown during the normal operation of the lifting equipment, as opposed to accidental or deliberate damage." In my opinion, this would be reportable, again from the HSE website: "Incidents involving cranes must be reported irrespective of the nature of the work being done, and reports must not be restricted to those involving lifting and lowering." My take on reporting is fairly relaxed, though. I see the process as essential to preventing reocurrence and ensuring that statistical information is collated so that the wider industry can learn from these events. As result, where the situation appears ambiguous, I'd tend to err on the site of reporting rather than not.

Playing devils advocate for a moment, is it considered accidental damage, due to the load not being slung correctly. ie if the load had been slung correctly then the rope would not have been damaged. Chris

I was given to understand that "accessory" applies to "loose" items used to attach the load to the lifting equipment The crane rope, on the other hand, is mounted to the winch drum and is an integral part of the equipment (since the crane is incomplete without it, and accessories are generally attached to the crane via the eye on the rope).