Welcome to the Certex News Centre, the only place for information on Certex. Remember to keep returning to this page to keep up-to-date with Certex.

28/02/07 New Safety Feature Prevents Unnecessary Damage To Lifting Equipment

An innovative overload protection system has been fitted to all Bulldog chain blocks and lever hoists that could save the lifting industry hundreds of pounds in expensive repair costs to damaged equipment.

This is the claim of Certex UK – exclusive distributor of the Bulldog range of lifting products. ‘Load Safe’ works using a special clutch mechanism and eliminates the risk of equipment being excessively overloaded and subsequently damaged.

Items such as overhead cranes, mobile cranes and offshore cranes are fitted with devices that measure the load and cut off when they reach dangerous levels. Unfortunately, items such as chain slings, webbing slings and shackles do not carry safe load indicators. Chain blocks and lever hoists also have no such device fitted as standard.

When lifting with conventional blocks there is no safeguard incorporated in the design of the equipment to prevent excessive overloading, so correctly judging when a load reaches its acceptable limit is often down to the skill and experience of individual operators.

“Unfortunately, this is where errors can occur,” explains Charles Gillespie, Certex’s Sales and Marketing Director. “For instance, it is all too common practice to extend the leverage by adding either a longer pipe to the lever hoist handle or using additional personnel to increase the manual effort on the hand chain when the lifting effort becomes too great.

“More often than not, this can lead to damaged equipment, expensive repair bills and costly downtime while a machine is out of action and, in extreme cases, injury or death,” he added.

This is where the new Bulldog range has the advantage because ‘Load Safe’ actually prevents the equipment being excessively overloaded.

“The new overload protection system should eliminate damage to equipment caused in this way,” said Charles Gillespie. “This particular feature is exclusive to Certex and at the moment is only available as standard throughout the Bulldog product range.”

Introduced by the company four years ago to provide quality equipment at an affordable price, the Bulldog range includes features that would normally only be seen on more expensive items. This has given them a reputation for being extremely safe and rugged, with excellent performance in the field.

The range includes chain blocks, lever hoists, girder trolleys and girder clamps and combines lightweight robust construction with safety and performance.

Bulldog products also come with a spares back up service and expert technical support from local Certex outlets