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Cranes and Lifting Awareness

For workers on sites where loads are lifted: the lift plan, exclusion zones, checking lifting gear, and the rule that nobody goes under a suspended load.

  • SeriesToolbox Talks
  • AudienceWorkers on sites where cranes, hoists or lifting gear are used
  • Duration20–30 minutes
  • CodeHAZ-LFT
  • Version1.0 · 871 KB ZIP

About this package

Lifting operations can fail through overloading, rigging failures, damaged lifting gear, poor communication, wind, ground conditions or contact with powerlines, and a falling load or swinging load can kill. Most cranes, and dogging and rigging work, need high risk work licences.

This talk covers the lift plan, exclusion zones, never being under a suspended load, checking lifting gear tags and condition, communication between the operator and dogger, tag lines, weather and powerlines. It is awareness for everyone on a site where lifting happens, not a licence.

Learning outcomes

After the session, participants will be able to:

  • Describe how lifting operations fail, and the consequences of a dropped or swinging load
  • Explain the lift plan and the roles of the crane operator, dogger and rigger
  • Set up and respect exclusion zones, and never stand or walk under a suspended load
  • Check lifting gear before use: identification and rating tags, inspection status and condition
  • Explain the communication used during a lift, and that only the authorised person directs the operator
  • Recognise conditions that stop a lift, such as wind, ground conditions and nearby powerlines
  • Explain that operating most cranes, dogging and rigging require high risk work licences

Training outline

MODULE 1

How lifts go wrong

  • Overloading and rigging failure
  • Damaged lifting gear
  • Wind, ground and powerlines
MODULE 2

Planning and roles

  • The lift plan
  • Operators, doggers and riggers
  • Licences
MODULE 3

On the day

  • Exclusion zones
  • Never under the load
  • Lifting gear checks
  • Communication and tag lines

What is in the package

Training

  • Editable PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes, plus PDF
  • Facilitator guide with a running sheet, discussion prompts and model answers
  • Participant handout with the key points to take away

Records and assessment

  • Attendance record form, to capture who attended, when, and who facilitated
  • Excel attendance register
  • Multiple-choice theory assessment, to record understanding if your business wants to
  • Answer key for the assessment
  • Certificate template

Start here

  • Read Me First guide
  • Product overview
  • Permitted use terms
  • Version information

Practical activities

  • Gear check: workers inspect slings and shackles (or photos) and decide which are fit to use
  • Stop the lift: workers identify the conditions in three scenarios that should stop a lift

Delivery requirements

  • A facilitator such as a supervisor, leading hand or WHS adviser who has read the facilitator guide and knows your site's arrangements for the topic
  • A screen or projector, or printed slides or handouts: it works in a crib room, site office or on a video call
  • Your own site procedures for the topic, to point to during the session

File formats

  • PowerPoint (.pptx), editable, with speaker notes
  • Word (.docx), editable
  • Excel (.xlsx) attendance register
  • PDF copies of the slides, guide, handout and forms
  • Delivered as a single ZIP download

Questions about this package

Does this qualify anyone to sling loads or operate a crane?

No. Dogging, rigging and operating most cranes need high risk work licences. This talk helps everyone on site understand lifting and stay out of harm's way.

Can we add our own site procedures and photos?

Yes. The slides, handout and guide are editable, and the facilitator guide marks the places to add your own procedures, contacts and photos of your workplace.

Do we have to use the assessment?

No. It is there if your business wants a record that each worker understood the key points. The attendance record on its own shows who attended and when.

Can we edit the documents?

Yes. Presentations, guides, workbooks and templates are supplied in editable formats so you can adapt them to your workplace. The copyright notice must stay.

Can we use the packages outside Australia?

Yes. The hazards and the controls in each toolbox talk apply in any workplace. The duties slide and the facilitator guide's "check before you deliver" table refer to Australian WHS and OHS laws, licences and standards, so a business elsewhere should swap those for its own country's rules. Everything is editable.

Do participants get a certificate?

Yes. The package includes an editable certificate template, an attendance record (Word, plus an Excel register) and an optional 10-question multiple-choice assessment with an answer key, so you can record who attended and, if you choose, that each worker understood the key points. It is a certificate of completion issued by your business, not a nationally recognised qualification.

Can we deliver it face to face and online?

Yes. The packages are designed for face-to-face sessions and work over a video meeting platform. The facilitator guide notes where an activity needs adjusting for online delivery.

Can we run it more than once?

Yes, as many times as you like, for your own organisation's workers.

What is your refund policy?

Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected. See the Refund Policy for how we handle a package that is faulty, not as described, or not what you ordered.

Do we get future updates?

You keep the version you bought for as long as you use it, and corrections to that version are made available to you. A new edition, for example following a significant change in the law, may be sold separately.

More answers on the home page, or contact us.

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