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Wire rope slings are an important piece of rigging equipment and play a significant role in lifting activities on construction sites, oil and gas rigs, logging stations and any other industry where heavy loads are lifted and moved from one place to another. The fact that these are critical to the success of all lifting operations means, you’ll need to leverage their potential to the maximum and this can only be done, if you are able to keep a few things in mind that will not only help you choose the right wire rope sling but also make good use of it.

Let’s take a look at 3 aspects you must consider to optimize the potential of wire rope slings:

1. Choose a Sling Whose Wire Rope Has a High Degree of Fatigue Resistance

A wire rope has to undergo repeated bending and it needs to withstand this continuous bending without failure. A high performance wire rope sling is one that is resistant to fatigue and doesn’t get damaged in spite of the repeated application of bending loads. One of the ways of improving the fatigue resistance of your wire rope slings is to increase their bend radius by using blocking or padding.

2. Do not Abuse the Wire Rope

Abusing or misusing the wire rope decreases the useful life of wire rope slings. What this means is that riggers need to stick to the safe and proper use of wire rope slings to not only avoid damaging the wire rope but also to adhere to the necessary standards of safety. If at all structural damage like bird caging or kinking is identified, you need to either repair it immediately or in case repair isn’t possible, you’ll need to get yourself a new wire rope.

3. Sling Inspection is Very Important

Wire rope slings should be inspected after every use, meaning they must be inspected every day. This inspection needs to be visual, manual and extensive, Each and every part of the sling needs to be inspected and primarily be checked for broken wire ropes. Ideally, if the sling sports more than ten broken wire ropes, it must be rejected and a new sling chosen in its place. All other components that are a part and parcel of wire rope slings should be inspected carefully as well and if there is any damage to these components, it needs to be repaired, and if it cannot be repaired these components need to be changed.

Wrapping it up

Whether it’s a wire rope sling or some other piece of rigging hardware, the idea is to pick the best there is and ensure you are choosing equipment that fits your rigging requirements perfectly. You don’t want to be choosing the wrong kind of sling that doesn’t support the load capacity of your application; this will only lead to accidents and serious injuries.