33.3 Rigging, Hoists, Cranes, Forklifts, Backhoes & Excavation

33.3 Rigging, Hoists, Cranes, Forklifts, Backhoes & Excavation

Area G’s equipment cluster is overhead hoists and cranes (weights and rigging), mobile equipment (forklifts, hi-lifts, cranes), and digging with backhoes, trenchers, and tractors. Florida HVAC meets that cluster on every curb-mounted rooftop unit (RTU) pick, every indoor air-handler hoist through a stairwell, every forklift move of a condensing unit across a slab, and every trench for condenser water, geothermal pipe, or a buried propane tank that is not new interior fuel piping (Class A/B still do not run new interior LP/natural-gas lines except appliance changeout disconnect/reconnect). Class A will see 20-ton and 100-ton picks that Class B’s 25-ton / 500,000 Btu limit keeps off the Class B outline as install items; the crane, rigger, and excavation rules are the same when Class B sets a 5-ton package from a boom truck.

Quick Answer: The load chart at the real radius and outrigger configuration is the capacity, not the crane’s painted tonnage. Use a qualified rigger, tag lines, and a 20-foot power-line plan (or Table A). Nobody stands under the load. Trenches: 4 feet needs egress within 25 feet; 5 feet needs a protective system unless the competent-person exception applies. Call Sunshine 811 at least two full business days out; the tolerance zone is 24 inches.

Cranes, hoists, load charts, and tag lines

29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC governs cranes and derricks in construction. The operator runs only within the manufacturer’s load chart for the actual boom length, boom angle, radius, jib, counterweight, and outrigger/crawler configuration. A 40-ton crane is not a 40-ton crane at 50 feet of radius over the side with outriggers half-extended. Gross load is the unit plus rigging, spreader, curb adapter still attached, residual water or refrigerant, and any lifting beam. If the chart capacity at that radius is 9,000 pounds and the 8,500-pound RTU plus 250 pounds of slings and a 400-pound spreader totals 9,150 pounds, the pick is over capacity even though “the unit is only 8,500.”

Worked chart check. An 8,500 lb RTU, 200 lb synthetic slings, 150 lb shackles and master link: 8,850 lb on the hook. Chart at 35 ft radius, outriggers fully extended, over the rear: 12,000 lb — proceed if ground bearing, wind, and power-line plans agree. Same crane at 48 ft over the side: 8,200 lb — do not pick. Relocate the crane, add a longer boom only if the chart then allows it, or split the lift. Never “cheat” radius by booming down after the load is in the air.

1926.1404 / 1926.1425 keep employees out from under the load. Tag lines control spin and drift so the unit does not take out a parapet or a power riser. 1926.1408(b)(2) : if tag lines are used near power lines, they must be nonconductive. A wet polypropylene line in salt air is not an excuse to grab a steel choker as a tag line under a 13.2 kV service.

Power lines up to 350 kV — 1926.1408. Before you boom up, determine whether any part of the equipment, load line, or load (including rigging) could get closer than 20 feet to a line if operated at the equipment’s maximum working radius in the work zone. Options: (1) de-energize and ground the line, (2) maintain 20-foot clearance with the paragraph (b) measures (warning line, dedicated spotter as required, nonconductive tag lines), or (3) use Table A after you know the voltage. Table A landmarks: up to 50 kV — 10 feet; over 50 to 200 kV — 15 feet; over 200 to 350 kV — 20 feet. If you do not know the voltage, you do not get to assume 10 feet. Encroachment planning is a pre-lift item, not a radio call after the boom is over the roof.

A qualified rigger inspects gear and hitches the load. A signal person is required when the operator’s view of the load or the travel path is obstructed, or when site-specific safety concerns demand it. Hand signals are the standard set; radios are a supplement, not a mumble. Overhead hoists (chain hoists, come-alongs, trolley hoists on a mechanical-room beam) still have a rated capacity, a limit switch on powered hoists, and the same “no people under the load” rule. Do not use a come-along as a substitute for a crane on a 2,000-pound air handler unless the beam, hoist, and hitch are all rated and inspected for that load.

Rigging equipment — 1926.251

1926.251 requires rigging to have permanently affixed, legible identification showing the manufacturer’s recommended safe working load (and, for wire-rope and synthetic slings, rated capacity by hitch type and the angle on which the rating is based). Inspect for kinks, broken wires, heat damage, melted synthetic fibers, cracked master links, and missing latches. Remove damaged gear from service. Never shorten a sling with knots. Protect slings from sharp RTU corners with softeners or a spreader so the unit’s sheet-metal edge does not cut a synthetic eye.

Sling angle is the math item. For a two-leg bridle, tension in each leg is (Load / 2) / sin(θ) where θ is the angle from horizontal. At 60 degrees, sin 60° = 0.866, so each leg of a 4,000 lb load carries about 2,309 lb. At 30 degrees, sin 30° = 0.500, so each leg carries 4,000 lb — the entire load. Flattening the hitch to “reach the corners” of a wide RTU can double the force in the sling and in the lifting lugs. If the manufacturer’s lifting points require a spreader so legs stay near vertical, use the spreader. Do not pick on sheet-metal handles that are not lifting lugs.

Forklifts, hi-lifts, backhoes, and trenchers

Powered industrial trucks (forklifts) on construction sites follow 1926.602 and the 1910.178 training and operating rules the exam still uses. Rated capacity is on the data plate for that attachment and load center — a 5,000 lb truck is not 5,000 lb with a boom attachment at 8 feet. Travel with forks low, mast tilted back, load upgrade on ramps. Unattended: if the operator is more than 25 feet away or cannot see the truck, fully lower the forks, neutralize controls, shut off power, and set the brake (block wheels on a grade). No riders on forks. Overhead guards stay on. Modifications need the manufacturer’s written approval.

Aerial lifts / hi-lifts (1926.453): stand on the floor of the platform, not the midrail. Use personal fall arrest — a full-body harness and lanyard to the boom or basket anchorage. Body belts are not acceptable as fall arrest under 1926.502(d). Do not exceed boom capacity, including tools and the RTU corner you are “just steadying.” Brakes set; outriggers out if the lift has them. Do not drive a boom lift on a roof the structure cannot carry.

Backhoes, trenchers, and tractors (1926.602 / Subpart W ROPS): rollover protective structures and seat belts on equipment that requires them; audible reverse alarm or a spotter; swing-radius barricade on excavators so a tech walking to the condensing pad is not in the counterweight’s path. Operators are trained on that machine. A helper “who has a farm tractor at home” is not qualified on a rented mini-excavator next to a 4-inch gas main.

Excavation — Subpart P plus Florida 811

Cave-in protection (1926.652(a)): each employee in an excavation shall be protected by an adequate protective system (sloping, benching, shoring, or shielding) except (i) excavations entirely in stable rock, or (ii) excavations less than 5 feet deep where a competent person examines the ground and finds no indication of a potential cave-in. A 6-foot condenser-water trench in Florida sand is not the exception. Option (1) default slope is 1-1/2 horizontal to 1 vertical (34 degrees) — Type C in Appendix B. Florida’s typical sandy fill is Type C until a competent person or a registered professional engineer says otherwise. Type A (3/4:1) and Type B (1:1) are not the default on a wet Tampa pad.

Egress (1926.651(c)(2)): in trench excavations 4 feet or more deep, a stairway, ladder, ramp, or other safe means of egress shall be located so employees need no more than 25 feet of lateral travel. A 60-foot trench needs a ladder about every 50 feet of working length so nobody is more than 25 feet from one. Ladders used for access still follow the 3-foot side-rail extension in 1926.1053 (Section 33.4).

Other Subpart P numbers the outline expects:

A competent person (1926.32(f)) can identify existing and predictable hazards and has authority to take prompt corrective measures. A foreman who cannot shut the trench down is not competent for Subpart P.

Florida Chapter 556 / Sunshine 811 is stricter than a courtesy call. An excavator must notify the system not less than 2 full business days before beginning excavation that is not under state waters (10 full business days if under water). The day you call does not count; weekends and listed holidays do not count. Member operators mark within 24 inches of the outer edge. The statutory tolerance zone is 24 inches from the outer edge of either side of the marked facility. Inside that zone, expose by hand or soft-dig — do not blindly trench with a backhoe across a yellow gas mark. OSHA 1926.651(b) still requires you to determine utility locations before you open the hole; 811 is how Florida does that.

Florida HVAC scenario

A certified Class A contractor in Tampa is setting a 20-ton RTU on a three-story medical office (over Class B’s 25-ton system limit, so Class B would not take the install — Class B still needs the theory). The crane is parked in a visitor lot under a 13.2 kV line of unknown documented voltage. The rigger chokes two synthetic slings at a flat 25-degree angle around the unit’s sheet-metal rails, no spreader, no tag lines, and two helpers stand on the roof “to walk it in” under the load. Overnight a 6-foot trench was cut for condenser water with spoil piled on the lip and no ladder.

The lift is an Area G failure before the hook moves. Identify the line voltage or use the 20-foot option; nonconductive tag lines; a qualified rigger using marked slings at an angle the hitch and the lifting lugs can take; nobody under the load; chart capacity at the real radius with outriggers fully set. The trench needs a protective system at 6 feet, egress because it is deeper than 4 feet, spoil 2 feet back, a competent person inspection, and a Sunshine 811 ticket that is at least two full business days old with a 24-inch tolerance zone. The medical-office owner’s Saturday schedule does not waive 1926 or Chapter 556.