According to BGR 500 Chapter 2.8 and the Use of Work Equipment Directive 95/63/EC the employer must ensure that round steel link chains used as slings must be inspected at least once a year by a competent person. This inspection must be documented. Further, every three years, chain slings must be subjected to non-destructive testing to ensure they are free of cracks. This test must also be documented. The testing intervals must be reduced if necessary in companies with multi-shift operation or in cases of particularly rough deployments.

Our recommendation:

• Two-shift operation -> at least half-yearly inspection
• Three-shift operation -> at least . quarterly inspection