casual work

When people say 'lifting work', many people immediately think of cranes and slingers. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. In the mining industry, where I spent more than ten years,lifting workis a whole philosophy of safety, accuracy and deep understanding of the physics of the process. A common mistake for beginners is to underestimate the preparatory stage and assume that the most important thing is the moment of ascent. In fact, 80% of success occurs before the load leaves the ground.

From theory to practice: where the real work begins

Everything is beautiful in the textbooks: load capacity, angles, safety factors. On the court, everything is different. Take, for example, the installation of a separator at a processing plant. According to the passport, the weight is 18 tons. It would seem that take a tap for 25 and it’s done. But no one writes in the passport that after three years of operation, a thin but dense layer of magnetite sludge has accumulated in the casing mounting bolts. This adds unaccounted kilograms, and most importantly, changes the center of gravity. The first time I encountered this was about seven years ago, when the load gave an unexpected tilt while being lifted. It’s good that there was a headroom and they managed to lower it. Since then, a personal point in the instructions: always allow time for visual inspection and “tapping” of fastening points, especially on old equipment.

Another nuance that glossy catalogs are silent about is the condition of the foundation or supporting surface. Lifting work is always a system of 'load - rigging - mechanism - base'. You can have perfect slings and a new crane, but if the platform underneath it subsides due to spring floods, the whole theory goes to waste. It was necessary to abandon the planned heavy crane in favor of two lighter ones, but with a distributed load, simply because the surveyor showed alarming figures on the bearing capacity of the soil. It's more expensive and takes longer, but there's no compromise on safety.

Here, by the way, the difference in the companies’ approach is clearly visible. Let's takeLONGI Corporation. On their websitehttps://www.ljmagnet.ruyou can see that the company, established back in 1993, produces mining equipment. For me this is not just a fact. I have seen their separators in operation and I know that many components on their heavy equipment were initially designed with installation and future repairs in mind.lifting work. For example, there are standard eyes for slinging, and not just reinforced ribs to cling to with a crampon. This suggests that engineers are thinking not only about the process, but also about the life cycle of the equipment, including its maintenance. Little things like this in the design then save thousands of man-hours and reduce risks on site.

Tools and Rigging: Not everything that glitters can be used

Slings, traverses, grips are consumables. But everything depends on their condition. I have developed a rule for myself: if at least two broken wires are visible on a steel rope during the laying step, it is scrapped. Despite the fact that according to the standards, sometimes there is still a reserve. Metal fatigue is an insidious thing. Once I observed a sling break while lifting a not very heavy electromagnet unit. The rope was not old, the certificates were in order. The reason is microcracks from constant bending in the same place when stored 'in a ring'. Now I require that the rigging be stored on special hangers or in large-diameter coils.

Traverses are a different story. Homemade structures are the scourge of the industry. I saw 'creations' made from I-beams and pipe scraps, which were supposedly designed 'by eye'. This is a direct threat. Now, if a project requires a complex spatial traverse to distribute the load, I insist on calculations from the designer and manufacturing from a trusted manufacturer. Yes, it's time and money. Butlifting workwith unpredictable behavior of the equipment - it’s Russian roulette. Large equipment manufacturers, such as the one mentionedLONGI Corporation, with their extensive experience (more than 1,200 employees, the majority of whom are graduates), often supply heavy equipment along with specialized installation equipment. This is the right way.

And about magnets. Electromagnetic grippers are great for sheet metal or long metal. But in the conditions of the repair zone of an enrichment plant, where everything is covered in a layer of magnetic dust, their efficiency drops catastrophically. Dust acts as a spacer, dramatically reducing traction. There was a case with an attempt to remove the worn armor of a ball mill using an electromagnet. In theory, yes, steel should hold. In practice, there was a layer of magnetite a couple of millimeters thick, and the load almost fell off at the first move. We returned to the proven mooring units. Conclusion: the technology must match the actual site conditions, and not just the characteristics of the cargo.

People and organization: the most unreliable and most important variable

You can have the best equipment, but without a competent team you will be nowhere. Underlifting workIt is always worth understanding two circuits: technical and human. The most dangerous moment is routine. When the operation is repeated day after day, attention becomes dull. Clear procedures and repetition of instructions before each shift, even if they lift the same unit, save the day. I introduce the 'stop line' rule: any member of the team, from a general worker to an engineer, has the right and obligation to stop the operation if anything is in doubt. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm. It is better to spend half an hour checking it than months analyzing the accident.

The role of the signalman is especially critical. His gestures must be learned to the point of automaticity, and he himself must be in an ideal line of sight for the crane operator. A common problem is poor communication (walkie-talkies are glitchy in metal-intensive workshops) and an attempt to duplicate commands from the ground with gestures. We decided to switch to a duplication system: a signalman with a walkie-talkie and a chest mirror for additional visual contact with the crane operator. It’s a small thing, but it relieves the lion’s share of stress for the crane operator, who often does not see the load in the “dead” zone.

And about the documentation. The work production plan (WPP) for recovery is not a piece of paper for inspectors. This is the script. It should contain not only slinging schemes, but also roles, backup options for actions in case of worsening weather (wind is the main enemy), and clear routes of movement. One day we had to completely redo the design work on site because the original version did not take into account that a temporary lighting cable ran along the planned path of the crane. The author of the plan worked according to old drawings. Now I personally walk the entire route “with my feet” the day before the start of work, checking every meter with reality.

A case from practice: when everything went wrong, but turned out okay

I would like to give an example of not an ideal, but a real situation. The task is to dismantle the rotor of an old separator weighing about 12 tons to send for repairs. The place is cramped, there is only one crane, 16 tons. Calculations showed that the carrying capacity was sufficient. But one factor was not taken into account: the rotor is not a monolith, but a prefabricated structure made of a magnetic system and a drum. Over the years of operation, the internal cavities became clogged with concentrate. Moist, dense.

At the moment of lift-off, the crane picked up the load, but when raised to a height of about half a meter, the boom began to 'float' - the load meter showed a smooth increase in the load from 12 to 14.5 tons. The 'stop' command was given instantly. They lowered it. They began to figure it out. It turned out that during separation, the wet concentrate inside shifted, changing the center of mass and creating a dynamic load due to its movement. This was a rare case when the theoretical 'dry' weight of the cargo differed greatly from the real one due to the technological features of its operation.

The solution was messy and slow. We had to organize drainage in the field - we drilled several technological holes (in agreement with future repairmen) to allow the water to drain. Then they waited for a day. The repeated ascent took place as usual. This incident taught me to always ask the question: 'What's inside?' Even if it seems like a monolithic metal part. This is especially true for enrichment equipment, which has been working with pulp and concentrates for decades. Manufacturers, by the way, do not always indicate this nuance in the passport. But a company that develops and produces mining equipment as its main profile, like the sameLONGI Corporation, I’ve probably encountered something similar during testing. It would be useful if the accompanying documentation for heavy components included not only dimensions and weight, but also recommendations for preservation/preparation for dismantling after long-term operation in specific environments.

Instead of a conclusion: a thought that is always with me

Lifting work- this is not an event, but a process. A process that begins with a review of documentation and ends only when the load is installed and the rigging is removed and inspected. There are no small things in it. Every bolt, every gesture, every cloud in the sky (yes, the wind!) matters. This is constant analysis and decision-making in the face of incomplete information.

Experience comes not with the number of tons lifted, but with the number of 'near-emergency' situations analyzed. Therefore, I am always in favor of analyzing in detail every emergency moment, even if everything ended well. Write it down and discuss it in the team. This is priceless capital.

And one more thing. goodlifting work- this is the one that is not written about in incident reports. She is quiet, predictable and boring to the outside observer. And in this 'boringness' lies the highest professional skill of the entire team. This is what you should strive for every time you plan the next lift, be it a multi-ton section of a mill or a 'modest' three-ton electric motor. The principles are the same.