P U B L I C I D A D E

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FECHAR

P U B L I C I D A D E

ABRIR
FECHAR
Voltar

Safety is the rule

Tower cranes work safely using state-of-the-art features, but the country did not absorb completely this equipment, which is used only in 20 percent of the works

When the engineer Paulo Carvalho, technical director of Locabens, integrated the working group that wrote the NR 18.14.24 (Transport and Handling of Materials and People with Tower Cranes), the country was completely needy of regulations for this type of operation. The regulation was published only in 2005, although there were multinational companies producing such equipment in the country since the beginning of the 70s.

After resolving the problem of the regulation, tower cranes are currently facing other obstacles, related to their use and the culture of the market. We may even think that these machines are spread throughout the country but the truth is that only 20 percent of current works are using them. “Many constructions use palliative methods to replace them, such as, for example, mini-cranes that are not used in any other place of the planet”, points Carvalho. “In addition to the lack of regulating standards, mini-cranes may have maximum boom length up to 6 m and maximum load transport capacity of 500 kg, but machines produced do not comply even with these specs.”

When the subject are tower cranes, countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile and Colombia are more advanced than Brazil, not speaking about markets such as United States and Europe. In Brazil, a 200 t tower crane is classified as medium-to-large size (most used models reach 40 to 60 tm). In the USA, cranes with less than 400 t are not used. Apparently, a long time will be necessary to reach this point. “In the seventies there were eight manufacturers of these machines in Brazil. In the following decades, the production continued just with some changes among the brands”, says the executive. “Recently, the crisis and low sales affected the manufacturers, discouraging the production in Brazil.”

Another recurrent problem is similar to what happens in other families of equipment: products of questionable quality come to Brazil without any control of safety features, ergonomics or emissions. According to the experts, this is a nonsense that makes clear the lack of monitoring in the market. “We have advanced regulations and the Brazilian National Standards Organization (ABNT) has international agreements with organs from the whole world. But this lack of restrictions for low-quality equipment harms the market”, says Carvalho, who currently is also president of the Brazilian Association of Equipment and Movable Asset Rental Companies (Alec). He remembers that the association—that was the rapporteur of the NR 18.14.24—spent one and a half year with this work. “We took part in a hundred percent of the NR writing works”, tells him. “And when the document went to the plenary in Brasilia, it was published practically with no changes.”

For Edvaldo B. Peixoto, director of IPS Engenharia de Rigging, the NR establishes fundamental requirements for operations with tower cranes. And all manufacturers and renters have to attend it. “Since almost all Brazilian regulations are based on international standards, there are no differences related to safety. What is missing is awareness and discipline to follow the guidelines of use and the safe procedures”, explains him.

SAFETY

With the legal base established, some considerations had to be necessary. In the evaluation of the Commercial Manager for Tower Cranes from Liebherr, Luiz Meirelles, the NR-12—that deals with Safety in Works with Machine and Equipment—gives only guidelines, explaining “what” has to be done but not telling “how” to do it. “In other words, there are no parameters”, says him. “Brazilian standards are too obvious and out-of-date in subjects related to ergonomics. Therefore we follow European standard EM 14439 for equipment manufactured in Brazil or in any other plant of the world.”

According to him, who is planning to buy a tower crane has to check its origin and manufacturer’s history. Equipment with items of safety, ergonomics and operation ratified by more demanding markets will ensure a more smooth work in Brazil. It is important to point out that these items are not designed just for the operator, since safety is a priority also for assembling teams directly involved with the equipment.

Returning to monitoring, Meirelles regrets that practically any Latin-American country does not have restrictions to bring equipment with no ideal conditions of safety and ergonomics. In addition, Brazil demands to inspect equipment only after 20 years of use. In Europe, inspections are carried out more frequently and are certified by experts.

Inspections of new cranes are carried out each four years. Then the interval is reduced to two years and—after 14 years of use—inspections are carried out each year till the end of its life cycle. In addition, equipment fatigue has to be followed, not just measured. “Considering the different conditions of the market, it is possible to have a crane stopped in the yard or working short intervals during a long period of time. This demands assessment of its components”, highlights Meirelles. “And the cranes used above the average condition, with excessive loads and too much wear have to receive technical interventions.”