GOSPEL-POL-014 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

DOCUMENT: GOSPEL-POL-014
REVISION: 01 CURRENT
EFFECTIVE: 2026-09-01
OWNER: GOSPEL Safety
APPROVED BY: GOSPEL
REVIEW: 2027-09-01

BCCSA heat ECP, managing heat at work, and sun-safety ECP. Sign in on bccsa.ca to download the PDFs. Use them. They do not replace this policy. Wildfire smoke sits in the same outdoor-exposure problem — BCCSA catalogue Fire Safety and Wildfire Smoke.

Wind

Limits come from the manufacturer and the lift plan. The lower number wins. A “light breeze” is not a number.

Lightning and storms

Thunder is the stop. Environment Canada: if you hear it, you are in striking distance. Land. Manufacturer shutdown. People off. Shelter 30 minutes after the last rumble. Do not count flash-to-bang to 30 before stopping — ECCC dropped that in 2010. A strike is a misadventure (14.16.1). Technical Safety BC does not write a 30/30 crane rule; earthing of the supply is the owner’s electrical work.

Ground and ice

Supporting surface, frost, thaw and drainage are part of setup. If the ground cannot hold the crane as configured, it is not a crane job yet.

Heat and sun

Cabs cook. Steel radiates. Signalpersons and riggers work in the open. Heat and UV are named on the FLHA. Water, shade, rest and stop criteria are set before the hook is loaded. If a worker is going down from heat, the lift is already over. BCCSA wrote the exposure-control guides — do not rewrite them.

Cold

Cold reduces grip, feeling and judgment. Ice on the crane, the load and the pads is a lifting control. Warm-up, extra layers that still fit the harness, and a stop when the work cannot be done with feeling in the hands. Named on the FLHA.

Wildfire smoke

Smoke is an exposure, not weather small-talk. If air quality makes the work unsafe — cab or open — stop. The supervisor and the employer at the workplace are told. Resume only when the plan says so.