The operating instruction manual that the installer or the maintenance company hands to the crane operator (article 7) has the minimum content of annex IV. Its point 3 is the list of what the crane operator must do and what is prohibited; it is the part most asked in the exam.
The crane operator's obligations (annex IV, point 3)
- Check the track (if the crane travels) and verify the crane's plumb.
- Check ballast and counterweights, the oil levels and know the lubrication points.
- Check the controls with no load and the operation of the safety devices with the calibrated weights.
- Put the crane out of service correctly.
- Check the state of the steel ropes and lifting accessories (slings, chains, pallet carriers).
- Report to the person in charge of the site any anomaly in operation or in the checks, and any poor fastening or lashing of loads, stopping or not starting the crane until instructions are received.
Prohibitions (annex IV, point 3)
- Using the lifting elements for oblique pulls, for tearing off loads stuck to the ground or to walls, or for any operation unrelated to handling loads.
- Lifting a load greater than the crane's specifications, under the conditions of use.
- Carrying loads over personnel.
- Swinging loads to place them where the rigging does not reach.
- Making more than three complete rotations in the same direction when the hoisting mechanism does not turn with the jib, so as not to twist the hoist rope.
- Carrying personnel with the crane.
- Leaving loads or objects hanging from the hook in the crane operator's absence.
- The area the loads pass over will be marked off, and nobody unconnected with the site or without a helmet enters it.
What INSST's NTP 701 adds
- The crane is operated only by someone who holds the licence and is also designated for the handling by the user.
- Do not work with a broken-down crane or if any safety device fails; a rope with deformation or constriction is replaced.
- The crane operator directs and answers for the lashing, lifting, moving, landing and unhooking of the loads; if there is a signaller, those responsibilities pass to them.
- Whoever hooks the loads must be trained and designated by the user; long loads with double slings; avoid legs with very wide angles, because the tension in each leg grows with the angle.
- Hand signals are those of annex VI of Royal Decree 485/1997.
The general rule for lifting equipment (Royal Decree 1215/1997, annex II, point 3.2)
- If the operator cannot see the whole path of the load, a signaller in communication with them is designated (letter c).
- All lifting operations are planned and supervised; if two pieces of equipment lift a load at the same time, there is a coordination procedure (letter e).
- Suspended loads are not left unattended, unless the area is inaccessible and the load is hung with complete safety (letter f).
- Lifting workers is only allowed with equipment and accessories designed for it (point 3.1.b).
All of this fits with Law 31/1995 (article 29): the worker must use machines correctly, not put safety devices out of operation and report immediately any risk to their superior.
Source: Real Decreto 836/2003, ITC MIE-AEM-2 del Reglamento de aparatos de elevación y manutención, grúas torre (tower cranes, consolidated text, in Spanish), annex IV, points 3 and 4 · INSST, NTP 701: Grúas torre. Recomendaciones de seguridad en su manipulación (tower cranes: safety recommendations for their handling, 2005, in Spanish), sections on handling, signals and slinging · Real Decreto 1215/1997, disposiciones mínimas de seguridad y salud para la utilización de los equipos de trabajo (work equipment, consolidated text, in Spanish), annex II, point 3.2 · Ley 31/1995, de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales (Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Act, consolidated text, in Spanish), article 29