CPA Bulletin

38 CPA Bulletin > May 2024 www.cpa.uk.net ESTA: 1 ESTA Two important crane industry reports havemoved closer to publication following the latest ESTAmeetings in Paris. ESTA’s Spring meetings heard from the experts behind both projects, each of which is aimed at contributing to improved safety and efficiency. The ESTA crane risk management working group is producing new guidelines to help companies assess the risks involved in different types of work and give them advice on how to protect themselves using properly drafted terms and conditions. The work will especially be aimed at smaller companies but will also contain information for clients. ESTA’s approach is to act as a focal point for available best practice by steering users towards reliable sources of information - and so avoid replicating work already carried out by other organisations. Meanwhile a second expert group - led by ESTA’s crane expert Klaus Meissner along with Mammoet’s Hermen Kamp and Gerrit van Hove from Sarens - has produced its initial draft of proposals for new and enhanced maintenance regimes for mobile crane winch gearboxes. The requirement to calculate the remaining life of a winch is a crucial safety consideration because if the crane winch gearbox fails the crane’s load comes down. The current regime involves a major overhaul after ten years to check that the winch gearbox is still in good condition, but many experts argue that the ten-year threshold is an arbitrary deadline and does not reflect the equipment’s actual usage. ESTA’s expert group is trying to come up with a maintenance regime that is based on technical analysis, for example by implementing regular oil analyses, and will provide detailed information for other inspections. This might both improve safety by catching unexpected problems earlier and, in some cases, might save money by prolonging the use of the winches beyond current time frames and preventing unnecessary oil changes. Both reports will be available free to ESTA members - and their members - from ESTA’s website. ESTA’s Crane Risk and Winch Gearbox Research Nears Conclusion CPAmember Ainscough has taken two of the top prizes at this year’s ESTA Awards, the leading European event for heavy lifting and transport. The winners were announced at a special dinner held on 25th April at the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In total, there were 37 finalists across the ten categories from 12 different countries. Over 400 dinner guests celebrated what ESTA believes was the strongest ever shortlist. Ainscough won the category for telescopic cranes over 120t capacity for its work at the Rugby Cement plant in the UK, where it carried out several complex lifting operations over a 6-day period working 24 hours. It followed that with victory in the Cranes Lattice Boom category for its work on the upgrade of Liverpool’s Anfield football stadium, where it removed an existing stand structure using an ingenious tandem lift operation by two crawler cranes. In a strong showing from ESTA’s UK membership, transport specialists Allelys won the Combined Techniques award, while Ainscough was also a finalist in the training category. ESTA Director Ton Klijn said: “Everyone at ESTA is delighted and honoured that our awards receive such excellent support. Of course we congratulate the winners, but we would also like to thank all of the finalists and all those who entered. “It is your commitment and effort that enables us to show the world, including our clients and political leaders, the important and professional work that our industry delivers day in, day out. “We look forward to seeing everyone in Munich next year for the 2025 edition.” Further details of all the finalists are on the ESTA website. European double success for Ainscough