25.09.2008

Software tracks lifting gear certification

Vestas offshore has adopted a software dubbed CertMan to record lifting gear inspection and certification and keep track of the condition and supply of all the safety and lifting equipment necessary to maintain its 30 turbines at its Whitstable Harbour site off the North Kent coast.

The system was developed by Certex UK to help companies cope with the increased responsibility for equipment placed on them by LOLER.
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The Kentish Flats Wind Farm

CertMan offers a complete online management solution for lifting gear certification.
Product histories, maintenance schedules and inspection reports can be instantly accessed, and printed out by users from any location.

Other features include an electronic messaging service passing vital product information around the company instantaneously; an early warning system that highlights in advance, products due for inspection; and colour coding for defective products to avoid the possibility of them being overlooked and put back into service.

Vestas Offshore UK is typical of the type of organisation that can benefit from using the system – namely a large-scale operator, where safety is of key importance and large quantities of lifting gear need to be monitored and inspected.

Peter Martin, service technician at Kentish Flats says:. “CertMan has definitely taken the stress out of the certification and inspection process, giving us more time to focus on our core business.”

“Every six months an engineer comes out and makes an inspection of all our lifting gear including Personal Protection Equipment. The service details are then recorded onto CertMan, reports are available from Certex within hours and we can view our equipment register online at any time. This ensures that paper work is always up-to-date, we know when individual inspections are due, and – most importantly – we have peace of mind that safety on site is always being maintained,” he adds.

Relevant for both fixed and portable lifting equipment, CertMan produces SI 2307 certificates, full inspection histories for auditing purposes, method statements and product defect reports. Operators are issued with secure ID and passwords and there is on-line technical help on how to use the system.

Charles Gillespie, director of sales and marketing at Certex UK, said: “CertMan is revolutionary in the lifting industry and offers companies an easy and reliable way of handling their testing and certification. As far as we know, there is no other software package offering such a comprehensive and flexible system.”