Mind the Weather: How Environmental Conditions Affect Lifting Safety
When planning a lift, we often focus on the load, the rigging configuration and the equipment — but forget one critical variable: the environment. Wind, rain, temperature, light, and even ground conditions can significantly affect the outcome of a lifting operation.
In this week’s ELEVATIP, we’ll explore how to assess and manage environmental risks, ensuring your lift is not only mechanically sound, but contextually safe.
Why Environment Matters in Rigging
Environmental factors can influence:
- Load stability.
- Visibility and communication.
- Ground support and crane footing.
- Sling performance and grip.
- Personnel safety.
Ignoring them can lead to dynamic instability, uncontrolled swings, visibility failures, ground collapse, and even total lift failure.
Key Environmental Factors to Consider
Wind
- Wind is the most dangerous weather condition during lifting.
- A light load with a large surface area (e.g. sheet metal, panels, signage) can act like a sail.
- Even at 20–25 km/h, the risk of sudden load swing increases dramatically.
- Crane manufacturers usually publish wind speed thresholds. Exceeding these voids equipment ratings.
Best Practice: Use a handheld anemometer or crane-mounted wind sensor. Suspend lifting operations above 35 km/h unless wind-tolerant equipment is used.
Rain & Moisture
- Wet slings and hardware become slippery, increasing the risk of slippage or unexpected movement.
- Rain can obscure visibility and increase human error in hand signalling or machine control.
- Accumulated moisture adds weight to loads like wood or containers.
Best Practice: Dry or replace damp slings; wipe down contact points; ensure visibility of markings and labels is not compromised.
Extreme Temperatures
- Cold makes synthetic slings brittle and can affect the elasticity of wire rope.
- Heat can degrade nylon slings and soften rubberised rigging points.
- Thermal expansion can shift load balance subtly during long, high-temperature lifts.
Best Practice: Store equipment correctly and use temperature-rated slings (e.g. polyester vs nylon). Avoid prolonged sun exposure of slings when idle.
Visibility (Fog, Dust, Poor Lighting)
- Fog or dust reduces the visibility of hand signals and compromises depth perception.
- Dusk or night lifts require high-visibility markers, signage, and lighting at load and rigging points.
Best Practice: Ensure all staff wear high-visibility gear and lighting is flood-level (not just headlamps). Reinforce communication using radios or buzzers when sight is impaired.
Ground Conditions
- Rain or thawing can weaken ground stability around cranes and outriggers.
- Even seemingly solid surfaces may compress under load pressure, causing cranes to lean.
Best Practice: Conduct ground condition checks before setup. Use mats or load-distribution pads for cranes and MEWPs.
How to Integrate Environmental Awareness into Lift Planning
- Include an Environment Risk Section in Every Lift Plan
Factor in weather, terrain and visibility into the hazard analysis — not just mechanical elements.
- Monitor Conditions Continuously
Have a designated weather monitor on long or multi-day jobs. Record temperature and wind as part of the daily briefing.
- Create a Stop Protocol
Establish a procedure for halting a lift if visibility or weather degrades unexpectedly.
- Be Conservative in Borderline Conditions
If in doubt, don’t lift — or reconfigure using weather-resistant methods (e.g. load restraint, counterbalance).
Real-World Insight
A team was lifting glass panels onto a high-rise during mild wind (approx. 25 km/h). Although wind speed was within normal limits, the large surface area of the glass caused sudden sway, nearly hitting the building. After this, they implemented a rule: “if the load acts like a sail — it waits for still weather.”
It’s not just about numbers — it’s about load behaviour under conditions.
