Burden of proof

Australia's major inspection programme has come to mean that cranes routinely undergo a full structural inspection after 10 years. This can involve stripping the crane down to components, an expensive and time-consuming process.

The regulations say the decision whether to undergo a major inspection should be based first on the manufacturers' recommendation, then on the advice of a competent person, or finally at 10 years. But, the difficulty of showing a crane has been regularly checked and properly maintained means crane owners often have to pay for major inspections, regardless of how hard the crane has worked or how well it has been looked after.

Brandon Hitch is CEO of CICA, The Crane Industry Council of Australia. He explains the history of the major inspection requirement. "Major inspections as we know them today were first introduced in 2002 by Australian Standards. They came into full swing in 2006, when the Queensland Code of Practice was introduced that defined content in a major inspection. Codes of Practice have higher authority in the regulatory framework.

"In the past couple of years, major inspections of mobile and tower cranes have been required by national work health and safety laws. It's gradually become more and more formalised."

While major inspections may have been intended as a last resort, to show that an older crane is safe for continued use in the absence of other proof, they have become routine. Hitch says, "Most manufacturers have some guidelines around service intervals, saying when they should be utilised. But for a variety of reasons- poor recordkeeping and crane usage variability, for example-it has ended up that a major inspection at 10 years has become the default.

"The difficulty of showing you are following the manufacturer's recommendations has introduced a presumption of guilt. The reason this has crept in, what has made it a cancerous mentality, is that the 10 year date has become a line in the sand. It has become a benchmark. Low usage, robust inspections, and a continuous maintenance regime is ignored if a crane is 11 years old and hasn't had a major inspection. Financiers and insurers will look at whether a crane is close to 10 years, or assess if a fault should have been picked up at the 10- year inspection."

Crane owners' concerns about this effective routine requirement for 10- year tests were highlighted in a survey of CICA members last year. As well as the requirement itself, members are concerned at how it is implemented. The problem, Hitch explains, is that there is huge variability in how an inspection is performed.

"Depending on who conducts the service, it might take an afternoon, or it might take weeks. Companies will say, 'What is the value of a full strip down, if a rival crane can pass the inspection in an afternoon at lower cost? How do I put those costs into rental rates? Rates haven't risen in response.'

"In 2012, CICA introduced the Gold Plate Major Inspection programme to reduce this variability of content as an independent audit of a major inspection. Few companies, owners or customers, have utilized this so the variability still exists."

CICA aims to help its members in two ways. It is arguing the case that full strip down non-destructive testing (NDT) is not always needed, particularly when a crane has been regularly inspected and maintained. And, it is giving them the tools to show that record of maintenance.

Hitch says, "Metal fatigue is very difficult to predict. This means major inspections give a false sense of future security. When NDT is used to imply 'There's no cracks in the boom, so it's safe for another five or ten years', that claim is very difficult to substantiate.

"Looking at components, having an inspection system with more frequent intervals, makes more sense. While metal fatigue is hard to predict, it has plenty of indicators leading to that point: visual indicators like corrosion or paint cracking on the boom. Visual inspection will indicate what needs to be monitored down the track, so you can use NDT method only as needed."

A new smartphone and web app based version of CICA's CraneSafe annual inspection programme will give crane owners the tools to demonstrate prior record of visual checks that can be used when a crane is reviewed for a major inspection. Using CraneSafe year over year can assist crane owners in demonstrating they have a system in place to monitor the condition of the crane and detect when a major inspection is due.

"Historic CraneSafe annual records are available, but don't contain photos taken during assessments. The new app will allow pictorial evidence of visual inspection, so we can demonstrate to regulators, financiers, insurers, that we can track year-overyear degradation we might see on the crane. Using the thorough CraneSafe annual inspection to keep looking at cranes, gives credit to owners who are performing their maintenance, rather than to the idea that at 10 years, a crane becomes unsafe. As computer simulation allows manufacturers to optimize their designs closer to the intended design life, the need for monitoring of the working condition and residual life of the crane will become increasingly important."