ASME Rated vs OSHA: The Differences You Should Know

When you are out buying Below the Hook items for your crane operations, one of the challenges is understanding “Rated”, “Crane Rated”, “OSHA Approved”, and “ASME Rated”. If you aren’t in the world of Below the Hook, how would one know the differences? Are there any that matter? Let’s take a look at the differences and help you decide what’s right for your operations.

Rated: There are manufacturers all over the world. They don’t all meet the same standards. A manufacturer can make a product that is rated for 1000 lbs, and have no safety factor. If you put 1010 lbs on it, it can bend and fail over time. Not every manufacturer will look to ISO (International Organization for Standardization) for guidance. And this is why we sometimes grab the low cost item and find that if fails quickly. Engineering norms are not necessarily in place for “rated” items. You find yourself relying on the quality of a company versus expected standardization. In this case you wouldn’t even know that it’s rated for crane use. It’s just “rated”. The difference is similar to chains for securing a load to a truck vs the grade 80+ chains used for rigging operations.

Crane Rated: Indicates that it’s meant for overhead lifting. It should have lifting eyes, or a clear method of lifting. But like it is with rated, we don’t know the standards used. The manufacturer means for it to be lifted by a crane. Simply rated might mean that it’s rated for a forklift for example. People lift Rigid Bulk Containers on slings all of the time. They are “rated”, but for forklift usage. They should never be on a crane. Not on slings or otherwise without a lifter under them. If they are “Crane Rated”, the manufacturer is at the least claiming it is indeed meant for overhead lifting. But you have no indications of a standard they have designed this to.

Rated for forklift use. About to be used with a crane. Not rated for crane use.

“OSHA Approved” or “OSHA Rated” gets us to a defensible standard. We start to see a floor beyond, “it’s rated”. When we talk about crane lifts, OSHA 1926.251 sets the standard.

The Requirements:

• Tags with the Safe Working Load and Manufacturer listed.

• Tested to 125% of their Rated Load.

There are operational requirements as well that preclude the use of items that aren’t rated or have damage. OSHA expects items below the hook are inspected in accordance with ASME B30.20 inspection paragraphs, but it doesn’t mean they are built to it. However, damage, no tags and so on are required for all “lifting accessories” including “prefabricated structures”.

The math behind the rating process that complies with OSHA is simple, but can become confusing. If you have a 1000 lb rated crane item, most engineers would start with a 1.5 design factor at a minimum. 1500 lbs is what it’s designed to. Are they confident enough in that design to allow for a 5 minute test at 125% and not have any long term deformation. If they are, then they can design to this minimum. What’s the design life? Don’t know. How many cycles should we be using it? Don’t know. But we do know that when it was made, it could take 125% of the rated capacity. What happens to the equipment after that test will determine how long it lasts? We don’t know. It could be a 1.5 safety factor and it could be 2x. At least we have a minimum.

It’s important to note that we don’t have any materials requirements. No temperature ranges. No prescribed deformation allowances and so on. If I can show you some examples of what that looks like in the field in practice, you can get a sense of the short comings in the practice.

Lifter widely used in my area that is rated. It’s not ASME Rated. ASME requires steel. With a simple rating, nothing guides the cut resistance.

OSHA Rated at one point. Only meant for single use. Cut resistance? Still being used in a state with a Crane Department and nine crane inspectors. Does not meet OSHA 1926.251. Remove defective equipment.

ASME B30.20 Rated is really the gold standard in North America. It matches ISO’s that world wide manufacturers might, and should, utilize. ASME requires a load test of 125%. Unlike OSHA, it requires a 3:1 safety factor. So that 1000 lb rated item must support 3000 lbs on the structure without failure. It’s going to deform and be ruined. But it will hold the load. This means that in the field it becomes functionally impossible to cause a failure without abuse.

Overload test to 300%. The bin is hoisted off of the ground with the overload. This load is solid steel. This is what it takes to get an ASME Rated Lifter to just deform, and still not fail.

What’s not picked up on with the ASME Rated items when you quickly read the code is that there is an accompanying design guidance that is required. It’s called the BTH-1 (Below The Hook). It guides the manufacturers on the deformation allowed. The materials required. The materials required are carbon steel unless you can show something else is superior. So if it isn’t made of steel, and the alternative material isn’t superior, then it’s likely not ASME rated.

The result is we know how the product will do at handling sharp objects. We know what criteria to use to start to reject the product. Pitting corrosion. Deformation. Cracked welds. When you look at plastic, is it in the embrittlement stage and about to fail? If it’s wood and nailed together… how are those nails doing? Is the wood rotten enough to not meet it’s design criteria? Aluminum bends then tears quickly when subjected to sharps and sharp loading practices. These are all details that can be worked through when it’s made of steel. The resistance of steel to heat and sharps damages and the weldability lends itself to meet the ASME Design criteria.

Aged Bulk Bins we sell deliver a long service life. You can see the deformation and decide if it needs a repair, or removal from service.

When it’s made of other materials, the question of when to remove them is highly subjective. Your safety practices should be better than a guess.

A cost consideration should be taken in here. A plastic bin can cost $350. If we supply a bin that is crane rated, like a 1313.6, it’s $313 before we ship it. You have to buy several before the cost is really exactly on par. But in the end, how long will a steel bin last versus a plastic one? How much will you spend slinging it up versus just hooking in since you’ll have lifting points? The lifting points you get with ASME B30.20 rated items will provide decades of savings that are well into several thousand dollars. And the safety benefits of hooking in and using a bin as it was designed vs a guess provides amazing value.

Outside of some particular areas like the German DIN Standard that requires a 300% load test, The ASME B30.20 Standard is the one you should be looking to. It’s the only one that ensures a 3:1 safety factor. If we compare it to rigging, you have a 4:1 safety factor on chains and some hardware as your minimum standard. But we’ve all seen them suffering due to the field abuse. So why take a chance with “rated” or “OSHA Rated”. The ASME Standard is right there. The cost difference is negligible. In our case, it’s often even less than “rated”. The risk to life and company to choose a lesser standard doesn’t make any sense. It would be like buying a car that doesn’t have ABS brakes versus one that does for the fleet because it saves $500. And when your people needed it but it wasn’t there, how would you feel then? What is the cost analysis when it goes wrong?

Always choose ASME Rated. If you want to know what the product is really good for, it’s the only way to know that you have at least 300% capacity available. If they are inspected and maintained, you should have little to no risk for the company if you choose ASME rated Below the Hook items. And if you want to know that the German Din test standards were used, we’ll be here at CraneGear.net You wouldn’t choose slings that don’t meet ASME B30.09. Why are you buying lifters that don’t meet ASME as well?