 Accidents involving lifting activities happen due to many reasons. Investigations into such accidents reveal that the main causes are unsafe operation, poor planning and equipment not in proper working condition. This video highlights some important practices you can adopt to ensure safe lifting operations. Members of the lifting team have many roles and responsibilities. A lifting supervisor leads the lifting team to ensure that the lifting operation of cranes is safe. He must be trained and competent by undergoing the WSQ Supervise Safe Lifting Operations course. The lifting supervisor must not have less than one year of relevant experience in lifting operations before being appointed. The lifting supervisor has to ensure that all members of the lifting team understand and implement all lifting activities according to the lifting plan, risk assessment and safe work procedures. A crane operator must be competent and registered. In addition, he must be familiarized on the model of the crane he is operating before lifting operations. A competent person such as the manufacturer representative or supplier of the machine must conduct such familiarization. The crane operator must also ensure that his registration is renewed every two years before it expires. A crane operator must know how to understand and interpret the load capacity charts so that the load being lifted will not exceed the crane's safe working load. He must inform the supervisor whenever unsafe conditions occur such as unstable ground, heavy rain, strong winds or overloading of crane. A rigger and signalman is required to be appointed for lifting operations involving mobile and tower cranes. They must be trained and competent by undergoing the WSQ Perform Rigger and Signalman Tasks course. While it is a rigger's main duty to ensure that the load to be lifted is stable, balanced and secured, everyone on the lifting team must also help to ensure that. All lifting gears such as chain slings, webbing slings and shackles must be maintained in good condition. The signalman must maintain clear and consistent communication with the crane operator throughout the lifting operation. When a situation permits, members of the lifting team may perform more than one role during a lifting operation. To avoid conflict of roles, considerations should be taken during the planning stage before commencing the lifting operation. These considerations should be indicated clearly in the lifting plan, risk assessment and safe work procedure. A lifting plan must be established and implemented before a crane lifting operation. According to the Workplace Safety and Health Operation of Cranes Regulations, the responsible person must establish and implement a lifting plan before the lifting operation. A lifting plan should cover all important information required in a lifting operation to ensure that the lifting operation is carried out safely. Some important elements of the lifting plan include details of load and the rigging details, lifting equipment and lifting gears, means of communication, physical and environmental factors and sequence of lifts. A crane operator needs to carry out daily checks including operational tests on limiting devices. He may use checklists such as those found in the Code of Practice on safe lifting operations in the workplace to ensure that all equipment are checked and in good condition. Report any faults immediately to the lifting supervisor and record such defects in maintenance log records. Lifting should not be carried out until all faults are rectified. The lifting team should work together to ensure that these measures are taken before a lifting operation. The crane must have a valid certificate of test and examination issued by an authorized examiner where a permit to work is required such as lifting operation in construction works. It must be approved before a lifting operation can begin. The crane operator should confirm that the load is within the crane's safe working load before hoisting. The crane operator should also ensure that the ground has been checked for safe crane travel and lifting. Adequate lighting is also important to ensure a safe lift. Lifting team should ensure that there is no unauthorized entry into the cordoned off lifting zone. All outriggers must be fully extended and set up on a firm and leveled ground. Where required, additional steel plates or its equivalent must be placed under the stabilizers to ensure the crane's stability. The load radius indicator in the crane cabin should only be used as confirmation after checking the values in the load chart. The load radius indicator must not be the only way to determine if the load is within the crane's safe working load. As a good practice, the crane operator should lift the load just slightly off the ground for a moment to ensure that the crane and load is stable and not overloaded before continuing with the lifting operation. When in doubt or a potential danger is spotted, alert the lifting supervisor immediately. Stop the lift where necessary and wait for further instructions. The safety of all workers must never be compromised. Everyone has a role and responsibility to ensure safe lifting operations. When every stakeholder works together to ensure safe lifting operations, everyone can go home safe.