What a lifting plan is

A lifting plan is the answer to one question: how is this particular lift
going to be carried out, by whom, with what — and what do we do if it goes
differently from what we expected?

It belongs to the employer

The regulations on the performance of work, § 18-6, require lifting operations
to be planned and carried out properly, with the necessary organisation and
competence. The duty sits with the employer, not with whoever is driving the
crane. Systematic hazard assessment under § 3-1 is the basis the plan is built on.

That does not make the operator passive. You are the one who sees the load,
the crane and the conditions in practice, and you have both the right and the
duty to speak up — and to stop. See § 2-3 and § 6-3 under
regulations.

What the plan must answer

• What is being lifted, what does it weigh, and where is its centre of gravity
• From where, to where, and along which path
• With which crane and which gear, and with what margin
• Who holds which role, and who decides
• What is the crane standing on, and will it take the load
• What is around it — people, traffic, power lines, other cranes, buildings
• How is it communicated, and what happens when communication fails
• What stops the lift, and what do we do then

What it is not

Not a form filled in for the sake of having one. A plan that has not been read
by the people carrying out the lift has no value — it protects the paperwork,
not the people.

And it is not permanent. Change the load, the crane, the position or the
weather and it is no longer the lift the plan describes. Then it is planned
again.

This section

These pages explain how a lifting plan is built and what each element actually
means in practice. The prompt sheet is a
list of the questions a plan must answer — for use as preparation, before the
plan is written by those responsible for it.