Chain Sling Inspection

Recommendation: Daily or before each shift, Inspections shall be conducted by a competent person designated by the employer.
Periodic Inspection – OSHA specifies that all alloy steel chain slings shall have a thorough periodic inspection, by a competent person, at least once every 12 months. These inspections must be recorded and maintained for each individual sling.
The inspection schedule should be based on:
• frequency of sling use.
• severity of service conditions.
• nature of lifts being made.
• experience gained on service life of slings used in • similar circumstances.
Inspection
1. Clean chain prior to inspection, to more easily
see damage or defects.

2. Hang chain vertically if practical, for preliminary
inspection.
Measure reach accurately (bearing point of masterlink to bearing point of hook). Check this length against reach shown on tag. If the “inspected” length is greater than that shown on tag, there is a possibility that the sling has been subjected to overloading or excessive wear.

3. Make a link-by-link inspection of the chain slings for:
A. Excessive wear – If the wear on any portion of any link exceeds the allowable wear shown in Table 6, (see page 161) remove the sling from service.
B. Twisted, bent, gouged, nicked, worn or elongated
links.
C. Cracks in the weld area of any portion of the link. Transverse markings are the most dangerous.
D. Severe corrosion.

E. Check masterlinks and hooks for all of the above mentioned faults; hooks especially for excessive throat opening. Slings showing any of the damage described above should immediately be removed from service and returned to the manufacturer for repair.