No one was injured. After the clamp failure, all clamps in the shop were submitted to an independent facility for load testing. In every case, the clamps failed the load test as the load approached the rated capacity of the clamp. The testing official stated that these types of clamps need to be load tested at least annually to ensure the safety of the operating personnel. Integrated Safety Management stresses the importance of engineering and administrative controls to prevent and mitigate hazards.
Testing is one way to ensure that equipment can be used safely.
Annual load testing of clamps is recommend. Tags should be applied to the clamps stating the date of the test. In addition, anyone working with a plate clamp must ensure that the piece of plate to be picked has had the cutting slag removed from the edges of the plate. If the clamp is placed over an area where the slag has not been removed, the slag could crumble during the pick, allowing loss of positive pressure and thereby losing the load.