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Plant Hire Equipment Inspections
What is DNV Container Recertification?
Offshore Pedestal Crane Proof Load Testing: Ensuring Safety, Strength, and Compliance at Sea
Why choose Locked Groove?
MEWP Failures – What Goes Wrong and How to Prevent It
Common Excavator Failures and Issues – What to Watch Out For
LOLER Examinations and Testing of Skip Loaders: What You Need to Know
Common Overhead Crane Failures: Causes, Prevention, and Maintenance
Advanced Internal Corrosion on Hollow Steel Structures
Electric vs. Pneumatic Chain Hoists: Choosing the Right Hoist for Your Application
Understanding Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV): Essential for Workplace Safety
The History of Cranes: Engineering Marvels Through the Ages
Understanding Wire Rope Sling Defects: Prevention and Safety
Planning and organising lifting operations
Lifting Equipment for Lifting People
What is PUWER?
What is LOLER?
What is lifting equipment?
Thorough Examinations
Plant Hire Equipment Inspections
Plant hire companies have a constant responsibility to make sure equipment is safe, compliant, and ready for use before it goes out to customers. That means looking beyond LOLER alone. Many items of plant and work equipment may also need to be assessed under PUWER, which requires work equipment to be suitable, maintained, inspected where […]
What is DNV Container Recertification?
DNV container recertification is the periodic inspection and re-certification process for offshore containers built to the DNV offshore container standard, commonly called DNV 2.7-1 or the newer DNV-ST-E271 standard. These are the containers used on offshore oil & gas platforms, wind farms, and marine projects. Unlike standard shipping containers, DNV offshore containers are designed for: […]
Offshore Pedestal Crane Proof Load Testing: Ensuring Safety, Strength, and Compliance at Sea
1. Introduction Offshore pedestal cranes are critical assets in the oil and gas, shipping, and offshore wind industries — used for transferring equipment, containers, and personnel between platforms, vessels, and supply boats. Given their exposure to harsh marine conditions and heavy cyclic loads, proof load testing is a mandatory procedure to verify that these cranes […]
Why choose Locked Groove?
At Locked Groove Ltd, we understand that safety and compliance aren’t just tick-box exercises—they’re critical to protecting people, assets, and operations. That’s why we deliver professional, transparent, and reliable LOLER inspections that clients can trust. Here’s what sets Locked Groove Ltd apart: 🔧 1. Competence You Can Rely On Our inspectors are fully qualified and […]
MEWP Failures – What Goes Wrong and How to Prevent It
Mobile Elevating Work Platforms (MEWPs)—including scissor lifts, boom lifts, and cherry pickers—are vital tools for safe access to work at height. However, when MEWPs fail, the consequences can be severe. Falls, entrapment, tip-overs, and equipment damage are just some of the risks that can arise. In this post, we’ll explore the most common causes of […]
Common Excavator Failures and Issues – What to Watch Out For
Excavators are the dynamos of construction, demolition, landscaping, and earthmoving. They’re built for tough conditions, but like any heavy machinery, they’re not immune to wear, damage, and occasional breakdowns. For operators and site managers, knowing the common failures to look out for can help prevent downtime, costly repairs, and – most importantly – safety risks. […]
LOLER Examinations and Testing of Skip Loaders: What You Need to Know
Skip loaders are workhorses across construction, waste, and recycling industries—lifting and transporting skips full of heavy, uneven loads day in and day out. While their reliability is often taken for granted, the lifting arms, chains, and hooks involved are subject to intense stress, making them critical points of failure if not regularly inspected and tested. […]
Common Overhead Crane Failures: Causes, Prevention, and Maintenance
Overhead cranes are essential for material handling in industrial, manufacturing, and shipyard environments. However, failures can lead to safety hazards, operational downtime, and costly repairs. Below is an overview of the most common overhead crane failures, their causes, and preventive maintenance practices. 1. Common Overhead Crane Failures and Causes A. Structural Failures 🔴 Crane Beam […]
Advanced Internal Corrosion on Hollow Steel Structures
Advanced Internal Corrosion on Hollow Steel Structures Internal corrosion in hollow steel structures can compromise their strength and lead to safety hazards. Because internal damage is not always visible externally, advanced inspection techniques are required to assess the structural integrity. Below is a step-by-step guide to detecting internal corrosion in hollow steel structures. 1. Visual […]
Electric vs. Pneumatic Chain Hoists: Choosing the Right Hoist for Your Application
When it comes to heavy-duty lifting in industrial settings, chain hoists play a crucial role. Whether you’re lifting materials in a manufacturing facility, warehouse, or construction site, choosing between an electric and pneumatic chain hoist can significantly impact performance, cost, and operational efficiency. Here’s a deep dive into the differences, advantages, and ideal applications for […]
Understanding Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV): Essential for Workplace Safety
Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) is a critical engineering control in workplace environments where hazardous substances or contaminants—such as dust, fumes, vapours, or gases—are present. LEV systems are designed to capture these harmful substances at their source, before they disperse into the workplace, reducing exposure for workers and helping maintain compliance with occupational health and safety […]
The History of Cranes: Engineering Marvels Through the Ages
Cranes have played a pivotal role in construction and engineering for centuries, transforming how we build and shape our world. From ancient times to modern skyscrapers, the evolution of cranes reflects advancements in technology and human ingenuity. Let’s take a closer look at the fascinating history of these essential machines. Ancient Beginnings The origins of […]
Understanding Wire Rope Sling Defects: Prevention and Safety
Wire rope slings are essential tools in many different industries. They offer strength and versatility, but like any equipment, they can develop defects that compromise safety and efficiency. Understanding these defects, their causes, and how to prevent them is crucial for ensuring the safety of workers and the integrity of operations. Common Wire Rope Sling […]
Planning and organising lifting operations
Lifting operations can often put people at great risk of injury, as well as incurring great costs when they go wrong. It is therefore important to properly resource, plan and organise lifting operations so they are carried out in a safe manner. Each of these elements requires a person or people with sufficient competence to […]
Lifting Equipment for Lifting People
People can be at greater risk of harm when they are lifted by machinery (eg operators of mobile elevated work platforms may collide with overhead structures and mobile access equipment may be at higher risk of overturning, potentially resulting in serious or fatal injuries). The increased risks for lifting equipment require greater levels of safety […]
What is PUWER?
These Regulations, often abbreviated to PUWER, place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over work equipment. PUWER also places responsibilities on businesses and organisations whose employees use work equipment, whether owned by them or not. PUWER requires that equipment provided for use at work is: Some work equipment is subject […]
What is LOLER?
Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 These Regulations (often abbreviated to LOLER) place duties on people and companies who own, operate or have control over lifting equipment. This includes all businesses and organisations whose employees use lifting equipment, whether owned by them or not. In most cases, lifting equipment is also work equipment so […]
What is lifting equipment?
The range of lifting equipment covered by LOLER is very wide and the Regulations can apply across all industry sectors; from healthcare to construction, most industries and commercial activity will use some kind of lifting equipment. Technological progress has meant that innovative, often complex and powerful lifting equipment is now available for use. Nevertheless, whether […]
Thorough Examinations
Safe and successful lifting operations depend, in large part, on the continued safety of the lifting equipment and accessories that are used. Failures in this kind of equipment can result in significant or even fatal injuries. Health and safety law therefore places a number of specific obligations on those providing, controlling and using lifting equipment […]
