Winch Safety Question

[Oh_Jeepers]

@Terrymo ... to answer your question directly ... do not stand along the winchline. And, if you see someone doing it, speak up. If the line is steel and it breaks, there will be blood. If it's synthetic and it breaks, the probability of blood is less, but still not zero.

Opinion:

If the winch control is in my hand, the winch doesn't move until everyone is away from the winchline ... no exceptions. They may think I'm an asshole - I don't care - however, everyone is going home that day without injuries ...

When the winchline comes out, it's because there is a problem. Most everyone is at least a little hyped up and primed to correct the problem. Unfortunately that's when accidents happen. The team needs to pause and rethink through the steps ... maybe even talk through the steps with an experience mate.

PS ... I was a test engineer on pipelayers when CAT went to the high-drive track configuration. During lift testing on the new machines, I broke a number of steel cables. The stored energy in a steel winch cable and the damage it can do is unbelievable.

Here's a good video on testing of cable failures. Most of it covers steel, but synthetic is addressed near the end.

Epic response and 1000% correct
I had a recovery training session at a rally and the instructor said something that has stuck with me all these years “stop and get a drink of water and think about what you’re going to try to perform the recovery, more often than not someone will rush to be the hero and that’s when people get hurt or worse” me and my friend actually did a practiced recovery session in a parking lot a couple of weeks ago for a newbie to off-roading and we started by talking safety first!

Stay safe out there

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