One of the leading causes of sling failure and load drop is from inadequate sling cut protection. We offer an extensive range of cut protection from simple Protec™ Wear Pads including our Protec Ballistic™ Body Armor up to CornerMax® Sleeves and and CornerMax® Pads. With their unmatched versatility and strength, they are the ideal solution to protect your synthetic slings from cutting.

The CornerMax® Sleeve has the ability to fit around any shaped surface. CornerMax® Pads create a “tunnel” of cut protection known as the “no-touch zone” preventing the sling to even touch the load. Their load rating is 25,000-pound per inch of sling width (4,464 kg per cm).

To learn more about Unirope® cut protection options visit our website https://www.unirope.com/sling/abrasion-and-cut-protection or reach out to one of our branches in Alberta, Ontario or Quebec.

The importance of proof testing after a visual inspection. Above is a picture of a 1inch diameter 2-leg Gr 80 chain sling where a welded link was used to connect the eye to the sling hook. The welded link broke and stretched just below the 94,000 lbs. Proof Load. Looks like a crack in the weld not visible to the naked eyes made the link to break. That’s why we use factory welded chains and mechanical couplers to avoid custom shop welding of chain links. ALL of our chain slings, brand new or used, are proof tested to meet the AWRF Recommended “Guideline (RP&G) for Proof Test of Chain Slings”. The Test certificates are digitally available anywhere and at any time. For all your chain sling inspections and recertifications contact UNIROPE® Alberta-Ontario-Quebec.

Find out more about our Chain & Wire Mesh Slings.

You may already use so called ‘swivel’ hooks. But did you know that ‘standard’ swivel hooks do NOT swivel when loaded? These hooks do NOT have a thrust bearing but the load nut sits directly on the hook support. This allows the user to just ‘position’ the hook into the correct load direction by turning it by hand when NOT loaded. Once loaded, the hook is locked into that position. These ‘Standard’ swivel hooks are not designed to rotate under load. Any forceful introduced rotational torque can damage the hook and put the sling out of service.

Unirope’s Thrust Bearing Swivel Self Locking Hooks are designed to rotate when loaded (to exactly position the load) and will not allow any chain twist to be transferred to the load.

They are available from stock for alloy lifting chain sizes from 7/32” (5.5 mm) up to 1” (26 mm).

Note that any type or style of Thrust Bearing Swivel Hooks are NOT allowed to be used with standard wire rope slings; they would unlay the rope when loaded.

EACH hook is PROOF LOADED and a test certificate is issued and available through our web-based Asset Management System.

https://www.unirope.com/sling/self-locking-swivel-hooks-with-ball-bearings/

What is a ‘dynamic’ proof test? This is when the hoist is not only loaded once to a proof load (usually between 100% and 120% of Rated Hoist Capacity) but chain travel during this test should result in at least a minimum of one full rotation of the chain sprocket. This is required to verify that the hoist brake is working properly with no apparent slippage or load creep and holding the load by stopping the motion of the hoist handle or hand chain. This requirement is published by the AWRF Recommended Guideline for Proof Test Procedures for Manual Lever- and Manual Overhead and Electric Hoists. Make sure your Test Certificate shows not only the LOAD but also DISPLACEMENT/TRAVEL during the test.

During manufacturing, wire rope is lubricated to reduce internal and external frictions. Tests performed by the University of Stuttgart, Germany, have shown that non-lubricated ropes will only last 1/3 of well lubricated ones. It is important to select the correct lubrication because thick and heavy lubes will just cover the outside of the rope without penetrating to the inside. In fact, thick lube will be locking-in moisture, accelerating internal corrosion. The result will be that visual rope inspections may not detect outside and inner (valley) breaks because thick lubricant will hide them. If you have to inspect thick-lubed wire rope you must remove the lube in regular intervals to perform proper inspections.

https://www.unirope.com/cut-slip-procedure-lubrication/

When inspecting wire rope, it is crucial that you know the difference between Crown and Valley breaks. Crown breaks originate at the OUTSIDE of the rope and are mainly caused by the interaction between the rope and sheave or drum. If you discover Crown breaks you can count the number of breaks and compare the number to the published retirement tables.

If you detect Valley breaks, these originate at the INSIDE of the rope and are caused by non-visible inside rope fatigue. You will NEVER know how many more breaks are hidden INSIDE the rope. All Inspection Table and Standards limit the number of Valley breaks to either ‘0’ or ‘one’ only. The rope MUST be replaced IMMEDIATELY.

https://www.unirope.com/crown-valley-wire-breaks

One of the most important features of quality rigging hardware is the ability to stretch when overloaded. This ductility is a design feature and warning that your rigging is about to fail.

Permanent stretch starts at around 3-4 times the Rated Capacity and indicates a very serious ‘overload’ situation and at that point, many other parts of your rigging will be at high risk of failing as well. Some signs are locked shackles pins, stretched hooks and links, stiffened chain, attachments that will not rotate or articulate, etc.

All Rigging Standards specify that products shall have “sufficient ductility to permanently deform before losing the ability to support the load”.  Ensure your rigging complies to this important requirement.

https://www.unirope.com/inspection-testing/general-proof-testing/

Safe Rigging Starts Here.

Yes, it starts with that must know and can easily read the rated lifting capacity of your slings. Sling tagging has long been a problem within the industry. Either they were made from steel plate with hard to read stamped in numbers, or they were skimpy and small. Tags should be printed in large legible numbers so users can actually read the tag from about 6 ft away. That in itself is a huge step forward in plant and construction site safety. Tags must also show month/year of last inspection and rated lifting capacities in either lbs, kgs or tons. For further information go to https://www.unirope.com/products/slings/chain-wire-mesh-slings/sling-tagging-system/