GOSPEL-JHA-005 BLIND LIFT

DOCUMENT: GOSPEL-JHA-005
REVISION: 01 CURRENT
EFFECTIVE: 2026-09-01
OWNER: GOSPEL Safety
APPROVED BY: GOSPEL
REVIEW: 2027-09-01

THE JOB

Moving a load when the operator cannot see the load, the set, or part of the path. Method: GOSPEL-SWP-008. 14.47–14.49.

WHO IS EXPOSED

Operator
Dedicated signalperson
Anyone in a hole, on a floor, or around a corner the boom can reach

A JHA names what can hurt someone and how that risk is controlled. It is not the procedure. Do the work to the matching SWP. WorkSafeBC does not prescribe a JHA form — the Workers Compensation Act s. 21(2)(b) requires workers to be made aware of known or reasonably foreseeable hazards. This is how GOSPEL does that for this job.

HAZARDS AND RISK

Task is the work being analysed — not a procedure to follow. Controls follow the hierarchy: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, PPE last. The badge is how bad this task going wrong is in this job. Extreme is the killer with no recovery. High is serious injury or a dropped load you still have a chance to stop. Moderate is lost time or a plan that failed. Low is first aid.

LOWMODERATEHIGHEXTREME

TASK	HAZARD	RISK	CONTROL
Declare it blind	Discovering the operator cannot see once the load is at radius	MODERATEImprovised signalling. Collision.	Say it in the brief. If it is blind, it is planned as blind. 14.47.
Name the eyes	Relay chain, two voices, operator guessing	HIGHDelayed or inverted instruction. Load into a person.	One voice the operator listens to. Relays only with a protocol. Dedicated radio system where 14.49 applies.
Walk the path	Lines, steel, people, other cranes out of sight	HIGHContact. 14.40 swing hazards. 14.52.1 high voltage.	Walk it before the hook is loaded. Spotter on lines. MAD is a wall.
Lost communications	Dead radio, stepped-on channel, silence	HIGHOperator completes a swing into a floor.	Stop. Hold or land as the brief said. Do not finish the last instruction you think you heard.

RESIDUAL RISK

Even with named eyes and a radio check, a radio can die mid-swing. Residual is a crane that still has momentum. Held by inching, by a written lost-comms rule, and by stopping — not completing the last guessed instruction.

THE JOB DOES NOT PROCEED IF

No dedicated signalperson
Radio not tested
Relay chain with no protocol
Path not walked

PPE — LAST LINE

Hard hat
CSA-grade footwear
High-visibility clothing
Eye protection
Task-rated gloves
Hearing protection where required
Fall protection where the work exposes a fall

SWP — BLIND LIFTS →

REFERENCES

Workers Compensation Act s. 21(2)(b) — workers made aware of known or reasonably foreseeable hazards
Workers Compensation Act s. 21(2)(e) — information, instruction, training and supervision
OHS Regulation B.C. Reg. 296/97 (in force 15 Apr 1998) Part 3 — program, instruction, inspections (ss. 3.1–3.12)
CCOHS Job Safety Analysis — JSA and JHA are the same method: break the job, name the hazards, select controls
Workers Compensation Act s. 21 — known or reasonably foreseeable hazards; instruction and supervision
OHS Regulation (B.C. Reg. 296/97, in force 15 Apr 1998) Part 3 — OHS program, instruction, inspections
OHS Regulation Part 4 s. 4.13 — risk assessment where rescue or evacuation may arise
OHS Regulation Part 8 — PPE; headwear CSA Z94.1-05 or Z94.1-15
OHS Regulation Part 11 — fall protection
OHS Regulation Part 14 — Cranes and Hoists
14.2(5) — CSA Z150-1998, or ASME B30.5-2004, or ASME B30.22-2005 (articulating boom)
14.2(6) — CSA Z248-2004 for tower, hammerhead and self-erecting tower cranes
14.35 pre-use inspection · 14.36 load weight · 14.42.1 critical lift · 14.44 loads over work areas · 14.45 unattended loads · 14.47–14.49 signals
OHS Regulation Part 15 — Rigging
Manufacturer load chart, manual and configuration limits
Site lift plan, FLHA and site rules where stricter