Wire rope sling inspection checklist

Before you use it

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.184(d) requires each sling and all fastenings and attachments to be inspected for damage or defects each day before use by a competent person designated by the employer, with additional inspections during use where service conditions warrant. Damaged or defective slings are removed from service immediately.
• Under 1910.184(f)(5), a wire rope sling is removed from service immediately for ten randomly distributed broken wires in one rope lay or five broken wires in one strand in one rope lay; wear or scraping of one-third the original diameter of outside individual wires; kinking, crushing, bird caging or other damage that distorts the rope structure; evidence of heat damage; cracked, deformed or worn end attachments; hooks opened more than 15 percent of the normal throat opening at the narrowest point or twisted more than 10 degrees from the plane of the unbent hook; or corrosion of the rope or end attachments.
• Only slings with permanently affixed, legible identification are used: the recommended safe working load for the hitch types, the angle it is based on, and the number of legs if more than one (1910.184(f)(1) and (c)(13)–(14)). Fiber core slings exposed to temperatures above 200 °F are permanently removed from service (1910.184(f)(3)), and the proof-test certificate for welded end attachments is retained (1910.184(f)(4)). Add the sling manufacturer’s criteria.