Some worksites require personnel to operate at heights unreachable by their natural limitations. Technology providing this accessibility hasn’t always assured the safety of its users. In fact, did you know that Michelangelo used wooden scaffolds so he could stand upright 60 feet in the air to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? The result was the renowned artist straining his neck for 5 years, something he complained about in letters to others. In a 1509 poem Michelangelo penned, he refers to his spine as being “all knotted from folding over itself.”
Today, personnel lifts, aided with ASME B30.23-2022: Personnel Lifting Systems – Safety Standard For Cableways, Cranes, Derricks, Hoists, Hooks, Jacks, And Slings and other standards, provide ease of access to workers at heights without hindering comfort or safety.
About ASME B30.23-2022
ASME B30.23-2022: Personnel Lifting Systems is the safety standard for the construction, installation, operation, inspection, testing, maintenance, and use of cableways, cranes, derricks, hoists, hooks, jacks, and slings used to lift, lower, hold, or transport personnel. Since this standard is under the general scope of ASME B30, which is focused primarily on material handling, the equipment and implementation guidelines featured in this document are not intended to meet any standard recommendations for equipment designed specifically for lifting personnel. Instead, they apply to the hoisting and accessory equipment covered in earlier volumes of ASME B30.
Several changes have been made to this latest revision, and they are listed early on in the new edition.
Changes to ASME B30.23-2022: Personnel Lifting Systems
- B30 Standard Introduction was updated.
- In Section 23-0.3, definitions of anti-two-block device, boom, boom-attached personnel, brake, equipment configuration, intermediate rail, nondestructive test, outriggers, platform occupant, platform rating, rated load, runway, shall, should, stabilizer, suspended personnel platform, toeboard, top rail, and travel were revised. Definitions of dedicated spotter, guardrail system, maximum horizontal reach, and personal fall arrest system were added. Definitions of hoisting equipment operator; latch, hook; load ratings; and working load were deleted.
- Section 23-0.5, “References,” was updated.
- In 23-1.1.1, “Personnel Lifting Platform,” subparagraphs (b)(2) for guardrail systems and (b)(3) for anchorage points were revised.
- In 23-3.1, “Personnel,” subsection 23-3.1.1, “Management,” subparagraph (e) was revised.
- In 23-3.1.4, “Personnel Platform Occupants,” subparagraphs (a)(4) and (b)(4) were revised.
- In Section 23-3.1, “Practices,” subsection 23-3.2.1, “Management,” subparagraph (f) for the development of a rescue plant and subparagraph (k)(8) for securing personnel platforms to floating structures were added, and subparagraphs (h), (k)(3), and (k)(5) were revised.
- In 23-3.2.2, “Hoisting Equipment Operator,” subparagraph (c)(11) was revised.
- In 23-3.2.4, “Platform Occupants,” subparagraphs (a)(3) and (a)(8) were revised, and subparagraph (a)(9) was added for using fall protection devices when entering or exiting a personnel platform.
- In the Mandatory Appendix II, “Personnel Platform Lift Planning and Authorization Form,” item 13 for recording the date of the pre-lift meeting and its attendees was revised.
All relevant definitions and guidelines for construction, design, maintenance, inspection, testing, and operation of personnel lifting systems with the use of some ASME B30 equipment are detailed in ASME B30.23-2022.
ASME B30.23-2022: Personnel Lifting Systems – Safety Standard For Cableways, Cranes, Derricks, Hoists, Hooks, Jacks, And Slings is available on the ANSI Webstore. Anyone in need of it and the other standards in this series can get them together at a discount as the ASME B30 Construction Package.
