Overhead cranes play a vital role in moving heavy loads horizontally and vertically at our steel mills, and we have well over 300 in operation across all our sites. Because of the nature of the loads any incident with these cranes could have serious consequences. That is why in the past year we have adopted new initiatives to reinforce our safety procedures.

The main difference with our new approach to overhead crane safety is that we have shifted from making individual efforts at separate units to adopting a unified strategy across Ovako. This approach has enabled us to implement well-adapted measures much more quickly and effectively than if each unit had worked independently. As a result, feedback from one unit is helping prevent similar accidents from occurring at other units.

An important measure has made overhead crane safety a permanent agenda item in our Safety Lead Team meetings, where representatives from the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) departments come together. These gatherings serve as a platform for sharing experiences, analyzing incident causes, and implementing improvements.

A concrete example is the pilot project for evaluating new equipment carried out at our site in Hällefors. The pilot included a small telescopic hook for daily production lifts, as well as a guide rope and a larger telescopic hook for heavy, one-time lifts. Based on testing with our overhead crane team, we decided that the guide rope and the larger hook were useful tools and they are being rolled out to other sites.

To further enhance awareness of safety in crane operations, we have also developed a new safety film. This film highlights common risks and provides clear examples of how to work safely with overhead cranes. Employees working with overhead cranes have been invited to watch the film, followed by discussions aimed at encouraging reflection on how to improve safety in their daily work.