19.1 'Competent person' for inspecting mobile cranes
19.1.1 Inspecting specific parts of a crane
19.1.2 Inspecting a complete crane
19.1.3 Crane alterations
The Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 (PDF, 766 KB) includes obligations for persons conducting a business or undertaking, owners and suppliers of plant. An obligation holder who owns a crane may engage a competent person to inspect the crane to determine whether the condition of the crane poses a risk to safety.
A competent person can be:
- the owner of the crane;
- a person employed by the owner of the crane (i.e. where the owner is also an employer); or
- an independent consultant or third party.
19.1.1 Inspecting specific parts of a crane
A competent person who has been engaged to inspect a specific part of a crane should have suitable experience and knowledge in the inspection of that part of the crane. This person may not necessarily need experience in inspecting the complete crane.
For example:
- A competent person inspecting welding on a crane should have suitable knowledge and experience in the inspection and testing of welds. This should include knowledge of non-destructive testing methods and AS/NZS 1554 : Structural steel welding (non-Queensland Government link).
- A competent person inspecting hydraulic systems and circuitry on the crane should have suitable knowledge and experience in the inspection and testing of hydraulic systems.
- A competent person inspecting electrical systems on the crane should have suitable knowledge and experience in electrical systems, including the ability to read circuit diagrams and understand relevant technical standards. This person must be a qualified and licensed electrician where the voltage of the electrical system is greater than 50 volts alternating current, or 115 volts direct current.
- A competent person carrying out non-destructive testing on mobile crane components should have suitable knowledge and experience in non-destructive testing methods. This person must be accredited by the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA).
In these instances, the competent person would verify that the welding, hydraulic system or electrical system complies with the relevant technical standards. It would not be appropriate for this person to verify that the complete crane complies with a relevant technical standard or is in a safe condition.
19.1.2 Inspecting a complete crane
A competent person who has been engaged to inspect the complete crane should have suitable knowledge of and experience in the inspection of cranes. Although this person would not necessarily need to be an engineer for inspections other than the 10-year major inspection, it is advisable that the person have a qualification in a mechanically associated trade. This person should be able to make a judgement about the maximum allowable amount of wear and deformation in mechanical and structural components, and the associated pass/fail criteria.
The person should also be able to demonstrate experience in the inspection of the specific crane type.
The decisions of the competent person should be based on information contained in the crane manufacturer's instructions, relevant technical standards, sound engineering principles or a combination of all these.
Where a 10-year major inspection is to be carried out, the competent person certifying the inspection must be an engineer. In forming their opinion, engineers may use the advice of other competent persons involved in the crane inspection who are not engineers.
19.1.3 Crane alterations
Where an alteration has been made to the design of a crane, the competent person must be an engineer with suitable knowledge and experience. It is likely that the competent person will need to perform engineering calculations on the crane design to determine that it complies with relevant technical standards.
Last updated 21 August 2008