Think Safety. Slow Down and Use Common Sense.
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No set of safety guidelines can cover all possible scenarios. When in doubt, slow down and stop the process. Think it through.
Look for impediments, depressions, voids, trenches, excavations, slopes or signs of poor ground conditions that can lead to an unsafe situation. If found, correct the situation to a compacted and level surface or do not set up.
Be aware of potential vehicle traffic that may conflict with your area of operation. Redirect traffic or adjust your outrigger pad set up as needed.
By itself, no outrigger pad can provide a complete guarantee of safety. Common sense always needs to be used.
Always Follow the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s Guidelines
Operators must use all of the original equipment manufacturer’s guidelines for their outrigger-enabled equipment when using outrigger pads.
Failure to comply with all manufactures fitting and training guidelines can result in serious injuries or fatalities in addition to significant property and equipment damage.
Always Use Outrigger Pads or Crane Pads
Every time the outriggers are deployed, your outrigger pads or crane mats must be under them.
Assess Your Ground Conditions
Ultimately the ground is supporting everything. It must be taken into consideration in every application.
All uneven ground should be leveled prior to the placement of any outrigger pad or crane pad.
Managing Deflection
If excessive deflection is occurring due to ground displacement, the ground is not suitable to provide the load bearing capacity that is needed to support the load. Excessive deflection limits proper load distribution, and can cause damage to outrigger pads or crane mats over time. The below methods can be used to improve both the set-up and ground conditions to reduce deflection.
Add additional supporting materials that are more rigid and create a larger area.
Add additional supporting materials that are stiffer to ensure rigidity, stability and safety. If additional supporting materials are needed, see “Stacked Outrigger Pad Setups” for how to properly place them.
Compact the soil using appropriate soil compaction equipment such as a roller, plate soil compactor, rammer or similar equipment.
Add rock, gravel or cement like materials to the soil to increase the ground bearing capacity.
Blade the soil to remove insufficiently compacted surface layers and expose sufficiently compacted ground.
Allow wet soils time to dry, drain needed areas and/or add rock, gravel or cement like materials as noted above.
Verify the outrigger pads you are using have enough surface area to spread the outrigger load over the area required to be equal to or lesser than the ground bearing capacity.
Inspection
How to inspect your outrigger pads and crane mats.
Outrigger pad/floats must be smooth and free from debris in order to evenly spread the load and achieve solid contact with the outrigger pad or crane mat.
Always inspect your outrigger pads and crane mats for material integrity prior to use. If they are compromised for any reason or you are unsure, do not use and call 800.610.3422.
If using additional cribbing, dunnage or other supporting materials in conjunction with DICA outrigger pads or crane pads, always inspect them for cracking, warping, rotting or other signs of possible failure. If the additional materials show signs of compromised integrity, do not use.
Proper Placement of Outrigger Pad/Float
Proper pad/float placement is critical to effective load support and distribution.
The crane outrigger float should be placed squarely in the center of an outrigger pad or crane mat. FiberMax crane pads have standard “foot placement targets” to assist with proper pad/float placement.
Outrigger pads/floats placed outside target area (center of the pad/mat) will result in non-uniform ground bearing pressures.
Stacked Outrigger Pad Setups
Failure to comply with the below guidance may result in “point loading”. Point loading concentrates the load and increases pressure, rather than spreads the load and decreases pressure. Point loading increases the possibility of a tip-over and with it, serious injuries or fatalities in addition to significant property and equipment damage.
When stacking outrigger pads, always stack a smaller outrigger pad on top of a larger underlying pad.
Never stack a larger outrigger pad on top of smaller outrigger pads, cribbing, dunnage or other supporting materials.
Always use materials of a known strength that are designed as support for heavy equipment.
Do Not Span Voids or Depressions
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Do not under any circumstances use DICA outrigger pads or crane pads to set up over depressions or voids of any type. Supporting materials of any kind should always be set-up on compacted, drained and level surfaces. Monitor your outrigger pad setup, ground conditions, personnel and surroundings at all times for potential safety problems.
Equipment Grounding
Safety Tech outrigger pads and FiberMax crane pads are an insulator that prevents the transmission of electrical current from the equipment to the ground. If electrical grounding is needed, see your original equipment manufacturer’s guidelines for proper grounding procedures and follow the listed instructions.
Due to atmospheric conditions, static electricity can build up on equipment. However, static electricity is not created, nor does it build up within Safety Tech outrigger pads when they are in use.
Electrical material properties of the engineered thermoplastic material used in Safety Tech outrigger pads includes the following: Surface resistivity of 10 to the 15th ohms/square (ASTM EOS/ESD S11.11) Dielectric strength short term of 2,300 volts/mil (ASTM D149).
Temperature Range
The following are acceptable operating temperature ranges.
Safety Tech Outrigger Pads: -40 to 180 Fahrenheit / -40 to 82.22 Celsius
FiberMax Outrigger Pads: -60°F to 180°F / -51 to 82.22 Celsius
FiberMax Mega Duty: -40°F to 160°F / -40 to 71 Celsius
Proper Maintenance and Stowing
Maintain DICA outrigger pads and crane mats using the below methods.
Use low to medium pressure water to remove soil, mud, road chemicals, hydraulic fluid or other debris.
Alternate the use of SafetyTech outrigger pad sides to distribute any potential surface wear and maximize shape recovery. Side alternation does not apply to FiberMax products.
Secure all outrigger pads and crane pads prior to vehicle transit in a way that prevents their motion or loss.
Safe Lifting and Handling
Use the following guidelines when handling DICA outrigger pads
When lifting DICA outrigger pads users should use their legs as the primary source of lifting power.
To safely roll round Safety Tech outrigger pads, begin by standing the pad on edge. Position yourself to the back or side of the pad. Carefully roll the pad to the intended location and follow the outrigger pad lowering instructions below.
To safely place pads that are standing on edge into position, two methods may be used.
Dropping: Verify all personnel not involved in lowering the outrigger pad are a safe distance away from where the pad will be placed. Have the personnel involved in the lowering stand on the side away from where it will be located. Once the area where the pad will be positioned is clear, allow the pad to fall away and drop into place.
Lowering: Verify all personnel not involved in lowering the outrigger pad are a safe distance away from where the pad will be placed. In unison, slowly lower the pad by bending at the knees while maintaining a flat back until the pad lies flat.
It can be difficult to know if the ground beneath your crane will support the weight and pressure under your outriggers, yet knowing this is critical to safe crane setup. In response to this need, U.S. standards and regulatory bodies now place greater emphasis on understanding ground conditions and using crane mats or outrigger pads that are sufficient to provide the necessary foundation support for maximum crane safety.
Know your responsibilities. In the U.S., OSHA states that cranes must be assembled on ground that is firm, drained and graded sufficiently, in conjunction with supporting materials, such as blocking, cribbing, pads, mats, to provide adequate support and levelness. (OSHA 1926.1402)
ASME states that outrigger blocking or cribbing must have sufficient strength to prevent crushing, bending or shear failure. And it needs to be of such thickness, width and length as to completely support the float, transmit the load to the supporting surface, and prevent shifting, toppling or excessive settlement under the load. (ASME B30.5-2011)
Know the bearing strength of the ground and soils. Because this is an extremely complex combination, it’s a good idea to seek the advice of a geotechnical engineer. A low-cost way to determine ground conditions is to use a Dynamic Cone Penetrometer, which is portable and easy-to-use. This information can be compared to ground bearing pressure charts for different soil types.
Identify any sub-surface hazards and avoid if possible.
Evaluate and improve the ground if needed. Ways to improve the ground include compaction, removing un-compacted surface layers, or bringing in rock or other dense inorganic material. If the ground is wet, allow time to get the moisture out.
Know the maximum pressure the crane will exert on each outrigger during the operation, or the maximum outrigger reaction force. Crane manufacturers provide this information for each crane model, and generally, it can be found in your operation manual. Many also offer free software solutions that allow you to input the lift data, which then outputs the outrigger reaction forces that will be generated.
Select the right size outrigger pad or crane pad. Undersized pads can put you in an unstable condition, but oversized pads are inefficient in terms of purchase, labor, and transportation costs. Several methods are commonly used in the industry. DICA has evaluated each of these and have found that various methods produce widely varying conclusions and most methods don’t take into account the ground condition. DICA strongly suggests that you should use a sizing method that takes into account ground conditions (ground bearing capacity), and actual outrigger loads.
Choose crane pads or outrigger pads that are designed and constructed to meet or exceed the bearing, flex and shear strength required. Their purpose is to distribute the load from the outrigger float over a large enough area that the bearing pressure to the ground surface is acceptable. They must be stiff enough that the crane will not go out of level as the load swings.
Never place blocking, cribbing, pads or mats under the outrigger beam. For safer mobile crane setup, only use them under the outrigger floats or pontoons.
Monitor every lift. If the outrigger pad or crane mat is showing significant deflection or bending, stop the lift. The outrigger force is greater than the pad and ground can support. Additional appropriate blocking or cribbing should be added. If the pad or mat is being driven into the ground, stop the lift. The pressure under the pad exceeds the ground bearing capacity. A larger pad, blocking or cribbing is needed to spread the load over a larger area, or the ground needs to be improved to adequately support the load.
Use common sense. If it doesn’t look right, stop. If it doesn’t act right, stop. If it doesn’t feel right, stop. Products are never a replacement for common sense. Use your common sense. You never know the life you save may be your own.
DICA, Guthrie Center, Iowa, has been specializing in building a better outrigger pad since 1988. By creating engineered solutions for improving equipment stability and ergonomic crane safety, DICA is leading the way in product innovation for outrigger pads and crane mats. DICA outrigger pads and crane mats are used in 20+ countries and on 6 continents around the world in construction, maintenance, electrical utility, oil and gas and tree care as well as local, state and federal government agencies.
DICA employs a three-step fitting process, including identification of the key data points for the equipment and the maximum outrigger reaction force. Then we work with customers in mobile crane safety to determine soil bearing capacity. Finally, we determine the proper material, construction, and thickness needed for the outrigger pad or crane mat to distribute the load over the intended area.
If you found this crane safety topic useful, please see the following links to learn more about our industry-leading Safety Tech Outrigger Pads and FiberMax Crane Pads.
Think Safety. Slow Down and Use Common Sense.
No set of safety guidelines can cover all possible scenarios. When in doubt, slow down and stop the process. Think it through.
Look for impediments, depressions, voids, trenches, excavations, slopes or signs of poor ground conditions that can lead to an unsafe situation. If found, correct the situation to a compacted and level surface or do not set up.
Be aware of potential vehicle traffic that may conflict with your area of operation. Redirect traffic or adjust your outrigger pad set up as needed.
By itself, no outrigger pad can provide a complete guarantee of safety. Common sense always needs to be used.
Always Follow the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s Guidelines
Operators must use all of the original equipment manufacturer’s guidelines for their outrigger-enabled equipment when using outrigger pads.
Failure to comply with all manufactures fitting and training guidelines can result in serious injuries or fatalities in addition to significant property and equipment damage.
Always Use Outrigger Pads or Crane Pads
Every time the outriggers are deployed, your outrigger pads or crane mats must be under them.
Assess Your Ground Conditions
Ultimately the ground is supporting everything. It must be taken into consideration in every application.
All uneven ground should be leveled prior to the placement of any outrigger pad or crane pad.
Managing Deflection
If excessive deflection is occurring due to ground displacement, the ground is not suitable to provide the load bearing capacity that is needed to support the load. Excessive deflection limits proper load distribution, and can cause damage to outrigger pads or crane mats over time. The below methods can be used to improve both the set-up and ground conditions to reduce deflection.
Add additional supporting materials that are more rigid and create a larger area.
Add additional supporting materials that are stiffer to ensure rigidity, stability and safety. If additional supporting materials are needed, see “Stacked Outrigger Pad Setups” for how to properly place them.
Compact the soil using appropriate soil compaction equipment such as a roller, plate soil compactor, rammer or similar equipment.
Add rock, gravel or cement like materials to the soil to increase the ground bearing capacity.
Blade the soil to remove insufficiently compacted surface layers and expose sufficiently compacted ground.
Allow wet soils time to dry, drain needed areas and/or add rock, gravel or cement like materials as noted above.
Verify the outrigger pads you are using have enough surface area to spread the outrigger load over the area required to be equal to or lesser than the ground bearing capacity.
Inspection
How to inspect your outrigger pads and crane mats.
Outrigger pad/floats must be smooth and free from debris in order to evenly spread the load and achieve solid contact with the outrigger pad or crane mat.
Always inspect your outrigger pads and crane mats for material integrity prior to use. If they are compromised for any reason or you are unsure, do not use and call 800.610.3422.
If using additional cribbing, dunnage or other supporting materials in conjunction with DICA outrigger pads or crane pads, always inspect them for cracking, warping, rotting or other signs of possible failure. If the additional materials show signs of compromised integrity, do not use.
Proper Placement of Outrigger Pad/Float
Proper pad/float placement is critical to effective load support and distribution.
The crane outrigger float should be placed squarely in the center of an outrigger pad or crane mat. FiberMax crane pads have standard “foot placement targets” to assist with proper pad/float placement.
Outrigger pads/floats placed outside target area (center of the pad/mat) will result in non-uniform ground bearing pressures.
Stacked Outrigger Pad Setups
Failure to comply with the below guidance may result in “point loading”. Point loading concentrates the load and increases pressure, rather than spreads the load and decreases pressure. Point loading increases the possibility of a tip-over and with it, serious injuries or fatalities in addition to significant property and equipment damage.
When stacking outrigger pads, always stack a smaller outrigger pad on top of a larger underlying pad.
Never stack a larger outrigger pad on top of smaller outrigger pads, cribbing, dunnage or other supporting materials.
Always use materials of a known strength that are designed as support for heavy equipment.
Do Not Span Voids or Depressions
Do not under any circumstances use DICA outrigger pads or crane pads to set up over depressions or voids of any type. Supporting materials of any kind should always be set-up on compacted, drained and level surfaces. Monitor your outrigger pad setup, ground conditions, personnel and surroundings at all times for potential safety problems.
Equipment Grounding
Safety Tech outrigger pads and FiberMax crane pads are an insulator that prevents the transmission of electrical current from the equipment to the ground. If electrical grounding is needed, see your original equipment manufacturer’s guidelines for proper grounding procedures and follow the listed instructions.
Due to atmospheric conditions, static electricity can build up on equipment. However, static electricity is not created, nor does it build up within Safety Tech outrigger pads when they are in use.
Electrical material properties of the engineered thermoplastic material used in Safety Tech outrigger pads includes the following: Surface resistivity of 10 to the 15th ohms/square (ASTM EOS/ESD S11.11) Dielectric strength short term of 2,300 volts/mil (ASTM D149).
Temperature Range
The following are acceptable operating temperature ranges.
Safety Tech Outrigger Pads: -40 to 180 Fahrenheit / -40 to 82.22 Celsius
FiberMax Outrigger Pads: -60°F to 180°F / -51 to 82.22 Celsius
FiberMax Mega Duty: -40°F to 160°F / -40 to 71 Celsius
Proper Maintenance and Stowing
Maintain DICA outrigger pads and crane mats using the below methods.
Use low to medium pressure water to remove soil, mud, road chemicals, hydraulic fluid or other debris.
Alternate the use of SafetyTech outrigger pad sides to distribute any potential surface wear and maximize shape recovery. Side alternation does not apply to FiberMax products.
Secure all outrigger pads and crane pads prior to vehicle transit in a way that prevents their motion or loss.
Safe Lifting and Handling
Use the following guidelines when handling DICA outrigger pads
When lifting DICA outrigger pads users should use their legs as the primary source of lifting power.
To safely roll round Safety Tech outrigger pads, begin by standing the pad on edge. Position yourself to the back or side of the pad. Carefully roll the pad to the intended location and follow the outrigger pad lowering instructions below.
To safely place pads that are standing on edge into position, two methods may be used.
Dropping: Verify all personnel not involved in lowering the outrigger pad are a safe distance away from where the pad will be placed. Have the personnel involved in the lowering stand on the side away from where it will be located. Once the area where the pad will be positioned is clear, allow the pad to fall away and drop into place.
Lowering: Verify all personnel not involved in lowering the outrigger pad are a safe distance away from where the pad will be placed. In unison, slowly lower the pad by bending at the knees while maintaining a flat back until the pad lies flat.
It can be difficult to know if the ground beneath your crane will support the weight and pressure under your outriggers, yet knowing this is critical to safe crane setup. In response to this need, U.S. standards and regulatory bodies now place greater emphasis on understanding ground conditions and using crane mats or outrigger pads that are sufficient to provide the necessary foundation support for maximum crane safety.
Know your responsibilities. In the U.S., OSHA states that cranes must be assembled on ground that is firm, drained and graded sufficiently, in conjunction with supporting materials, such as blocking, cribbing, pads, mats, to provide adequate support and levelness. (OSHA 1926.1402)
ASME states that outrigger blocking or cribbing must have sufficient strength to prevent crushing, bending or shear failure. And it needs to be of such thickness, width and length as to completely support the float, transmit the load to the supporting surface, and prevent shifting, toppling or excessive settlement under the load. (ASME B30.5-2011)
Know the bearing strength of the ground and soils. Because this is an extremely complex combination, it’s a good idea to seek the advice of a geotechnical engineer. A low-cost way to determine ground conditions is to use a Dynamic Cone Penetrometer, which is portable and easy-to-use. This information can be compared to ground bearing pressure charts for different soil types.
Identify any sub-surface hazards and avoid if possible.
Evaluate and improve the ground if needed. Ways to improve the ground include compaction, removing un-compacted surface layers, or bringing in rock or other dense inorganic material. If the ground is wet, allow time to get the moisture out.
Know the maximum pressure the crane will exert on each outrigger during the operation, or the maximum outrigger reaction force. Crane manufacturers provide this information for each crane model, and generally, it can be found in your operation manual. Many also offer free software solutions that allow you to input the lift data, which then outputs the outrigger reaction forces that will be generated.
Select the right size outrigger pad or crane pad. Undersized pads can put you in an unstable condition, but oversized pads are inefficient in terms of purchase, labor, and transportation costs. Several methods are commonly used in the industry. DICA has evaluated each of these and have found that various methods produce widely varying conclusions and most methods don’t take into account the ground condition. DICA strongly suggests that you should use a sizing method that takes into account ground conditions (ground bearing capacity), and actual outrigger loads.
Choose crane pads or outrigger pads that are designed and constructed to meet or exceed the bearing, flex and shear strength required. Their purpose is to distribute the load from the outrigger float over a large enough area that the bearing pressure to the ground surface is acceptable. They must be stiff enough that the crane will not go out of level as the load swings.
Never place blocking, cribbing, pads or mats under the outrigger beam. For safer mobile crane setup, only use them under the outrigger floats or pontoons.
Monitor every lift. If the outrigger pad or crane mat is showing significant deflection or bending, stop the lift. The outrigger force is greater than the pad and ground can support. Additional appropriate blocking or cribbing should be added. If the pad or mat is being driven into the ground, stop the lift. The pressure under the pad exceeds the ground bearing capacity. A larger pad, blocking or cribbing is needed to spread the load over a larger area, or the ground needs to be improved to adequately support the load.
Use common sense. If it doesn’t look right, stop. If it doesn’t act right, stop. If it doesn’t feel right, stop. Products are never a replacement for common sense. Use your common sense. You never know the life you save may be your own.
DICA, Guthrie Center, Iowa, has been specializing in building a better outrigger pad since 1988. By creating engineered solutions for improving equipment stability and ergonomic crane safety, DICA is leading the way in product innovation for outrigger pads and crane mats. DICA outrigger pads and crane mats are used in 20+ countries and on 6 continents around the world in construction, maintenance, electrical utility, oil and gas and tree care as well as local, state and federal government agencies.
DICA employs a three-step fitting process, including identification of the key data points for the equipment and the maximum outrigger reaction force. Then we work with customers in mobile crane safety to determine soil bearing capacity. Finally, we determine the proper material, construction, and thickness needed for the outrigger pad or crane mat to distribute the load over the intended area.
If you found this crane safety topic useful, please see the following links to learn more about our industry-leading Safety Tech Outrigger Pads and FiberMax Crane Pads.