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Lifting gear and crane inspections

One register for cranes, hoists, chain blocks, slings, shackles and chains. Inspection dates, certificates and quarantine status sit on the item itself, so the crew can see what is safe to rig before they pick it up.

Lachlan McRitchie

Lachlan McRitchie

GM of Operations

Published 3 September 2026

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What is a lifting equipment register?

A lifting equipment register is the controlled list of every item that takes load on a site, with an identifier, a working load limit, an inspection history and a next-inspection date against each one. It exists so that anyone about to rig a lift can tell whether the gear in front of them is in date and in service. MapTrack keeps that register on the same platform as the plant it lifts, so a crane, its hoist and the slings that go with it are all records with their own inspection evidence attached.

  • Every item, individually: A sling is an asset, not a line on a crane record.
  • In date or out: Next inspection due, and a status the crew can see before they rig.
  • Evidence attached: The third-party certificate lives on the item it certifies.

Why does lifting gear go missing from the register?

Because it moves and it is small. Cranes get tracked, because a crane is expensive and someone owns it. The slings and shackles that go up with it live in a container, get borrowed between crews and come back to a different yard. That is the gear that fails an audit, and it is also the gear most likely to be reached for in a hurry. Registering the small gear the same way as the big plant is the whole job.

The problem

Lifting gear is the part of the fleet that is hardest to keep honest. The crane has a service record and an owner. The slings, shackles, chain blocks and lifting beams sit in a container, move between crews and sites, and get inspected by a third party who sends back one PDF covering forty items. Somebody files that PDF. Six months later nobody can say which sling it covered, whether the quarantined one went back into service, or what is due next month.

How MapTrack addresses it

Put every item that takes load on the register, from the crane down to the shackle. Record the working load limit, the inspection interval you have set and the next date due. Scan a durable QR or barcode label, or search the stamped ID, to open the item in the field. Attach the inspector's certificate to each item it names. Change status when gear is quarantined so it stops showing as available. Filter by what is due and run a whole inspection round as one job, with a separate result recorded against every item.

How it works

  • 1

    Register every item that takes load

    Cranes, hoists, chain blocks, slings, shackles, chains, eyebolts and lifting beams. Record the ID stamped on the gear so the register and the item agree.

  • 2

    Set the interval and the next date due

    Intervals come from the standard, the manufacturer and how hard the gear works. MapTrack holds the one you set and alerts before it lapses.

  • 3

    Inspect in the field by scanning

    Open the right record by scanning its label, record the result and add a photo of any damage or wear you find.

  • 4

    Attach the certificate to every item it covers

    A single third-party report covering many items can be attached to each one it names, so the proof sits with the gear.

  • 5

    Quarantine visibly, not physically

    Mark failed gear out of service on the register so the next crew sees it before they reach for it, and keep the reason on the record.

What makes lifting gear different from the rest of the fleet

Most asset software is built around the machine. Lifting gear is a population of small, high-consequence, highly mobile items, and it needs the same discipline.

The small gear is registered too

A shackle gets its own record, its own inspection history and its own status. It is not a note on the crane it happened to be used with that day.

Due dates you see before the lift

Filter the register by what is due, get alerted before it lapses, and turn a period of due items into one inspection round rather than a scramble.

One certificate, many assets

Third-party inspectors return one PDF covering a batch. That report can be attached to each item it names, which is how the evidence survives the next audit.

Quarantine is a status, not a shelf

Failed gear stops appearing as available across every site, so a crew in another yard cannot reach for it by accident.

The standards lifting work sits under

Inspection intervals, competent-person requirements and record obligations for lifting equipment come from the instrument that applies where you work, and from the manufacturer. In Australia that is usually the WHS Regulations together with the AS 2550 and AS 1418 series; in the United Kingdom it is LOLER. Read the current text rather than a summary, including ours.

Check the current source

MapTrack keeps the records these standards ask you to keep. It does not certify your work or make you compliant, and the current text of each instrument is the authority.

Know the gear is in date before the pick

Register every item that takes load, set the interval, and let the crew check status by scanning it.

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Frequently asked questions

Every item that takes load: cranes, hoists and chain blocks, plus the gear that goes with them, so slings, shackles, chains, eyebolts, lifting beams and below-the-hook attachments. Each one needs an identifier you can read in the field, a working load limit, a date it was last inspected, who inspected it and when the next inspection falls due.

Change its status on the register so it stops appearing as available, and record why. The point of a register is that a quarantined sling is visibly quarantined to the next person who goes looking for one, rather than sitting back in the container with the good gear.

Slings, shackles and chains usually carry a stamped or swaged ID already. Record that ID as the asset identifier so the physical marking and the register agree. Where there is room, a durable QR or barcode label lets the crew open the right record by scanning instead of reading a worn stamp.

Set the next inspection date on each item and MapTrack alerts before it lapses, so the gear is booked in rather than found overdue on the morning of a lift. You can also filter the register by what is due in a period and run the whole lot as one job.

On the asset. A third-party inspector often returns one PDF covering many items, and that report can be attached to each item it names, so the certificate is on the sling rather than in an email thread from eight months ago.

No. Intervals come from the standard, the manufacturer and your own risk assessment, and they change with how hard the gear is worked. MapTrack holds the interval you set, tracks what is due against it and keeps the evidence. Always work from the current text of the standard that applies to you.

Put your lifting register on one platform

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