Have you ever walked through a facility when suddenly a maintenance cart approached from behind without you being aware of it? Have you ever stepped around a blind corner and been startled by a piece of mobile equipment moving toward you? Everyone is busy these days, often multi-tasking and being in a hurry, which can distract an employee from serious hazards such as mobile equipment traffic. Audible alarms are great, but often serve as a general warning of equipment in the area. If you also consider how loud a steel mill can be, along with the continuous use of mobile equipment or overhead crane sirens throughout a workday, you can understand how workers may become immune to these audible alarms.

Unlike the blue lights on forklifts where the beam is projected 15 feet, producing a consistent and visible blue spot on the ground, crane warning light use 24 LED lights as warning lights. These lights performed well from 100 feet, producing a bright 7-foot x 7-foot spot on the ground. Considering the performance of the different colored lights and our customers’ feedback, we suggest that the red light will best.

The crane waning light have been a positive complement to crane’s audible warning siren. Should employees become distracted or complacent to the audible warnings of overhead cranes, a moving light on the floor will grab their attention and prevent them from unknowingly walking under a suspended load. The lights will be angled out from the bridge of a crane to warn workers of an approaching crane, with adjustable distances selected based on the area. Another option we may consider is installing lights on the trolley projecting straight down from the four corners of the trolley, thus creating a danger zone around a suspended load. Installing the lights on the trolley can also be beneficial to crane operators while they are picking up or setting a load down, as they do not have to take their eyes off the crane block or load to know the trolley is centered over the load.

We believes its effort to provide more awareness of overhead crane movement will result in fewer opportunities for employees to be in  the wrong place at the wrong time, minimizing the potential of a preventable accident.

The question now is: do you want to keep risking losing a lot of money over costly workplace accidents or would you rather help your employees stay safe and be more productive in the process? Talk to us today to get started!