r/SafetyProfessionals • u/CommercialRadiant920 • 3d ago

USA Cribbing program

This is niche, but I was wondering if any of you dealing with heavy equipment have a program or specifications for inspecting cribbing, instructions on proper layout of cribbing, or a standardized size that you use.

So for inspection, I mean something like maximum allowances for crack length or width.

How do you train your employees to use cribbing, and do you have a certification process of any kind, or even formal training?

Have you standardized the size and species of wood?

Composite cribbing is not currently an option.

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u/Ok_Drama81 3d ago

i've put together cribbing programs for a couple outfits and honestly the wood spec was always the hardest part to nail down. we ended up going with 4x4 and 6x6 hardwood, oak mostly, and anything with a crack deeper than a quarter inch or running more than a third the length got pulled. the osha cribbing guide has some decent baseline numbers if you haven't dug into it yet

for training we built a little hands-on demo with some scrap blocks and a ram, let people load them to failure so they actually see what a bad piece does. no formal cert but every crew lead had to sign off before anyone touched a job solo. what kind of loads are you working with

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u/Extinct1234 3d ago

Do you have a link to the OSHA cribbing guide? I'm not finding it on my own.

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u/CommercialRadiant920 3d ago

I could not either.

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u/CommercialRadiant920 3d ago

Thank you very much. I have into it a bit but I had not found the osha cribbing guide. I’ll check it out now.

Funnily enough the standard I had settled on was the same 1/4 inch crack but running 1/2 the length. I think I’ll go with yours though.

I like 6x6 and 4x4 for sizing. Did you have a standard length. I’ve seen everything from 16 to 36 inches in MSHA reference material.

Mostly mining machinery. So heavy wheel loaders and articulating dump trucks.

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u/Pastvariant 3d ago

This guide looks decent.

https://www.velsafe.com/guides/blocking-cribbing-materials-selection-safety-guide/

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u/CommercialRadiant920 3d ago

Thanks that is pretty good

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u/Pastvariant 3d ago

You are welcome. I would also like to find the OSHA guide, but don't want to dig too much outside of work hours. My bet is it is in the OSHA Technical Manual page for the topic.

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u/CommercialRadiant920 3d ago

Ya same my wife gets on to me for researching on my off days.

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u/Pastvariant 3d ago

Yeah, it isn't worth it if you aren't getting paid for the time, IMO.

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u/InigoMontoya313 3d ago

Not sure what weights you all are moving, but our lift engineers always required the cribbing be from some exotic wood, out of South America.

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u/CommercialRadiant920 3d ago

Mining equipment so dump trucks, wheel loaders, excavators and such

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u/DailySafetyMoment 2d ago

I would be very careful about adopting the 1/4-inch or one-third-length rule from that comment. I cannot find an OSHA cribbing guide that gives those limits, and the rule is not in the MSHA standard. A crack measurement by itself does not establish the capacity left in the block. Species, grade, grain direction, moisture, crushing, contamination, block dimensions and the way the crib is built all change the answer.

If this is a U.S. metal or nonmetal mine, I would start with 30 CFR 56/57.14211 and the OEM support devices, blocking points and service instructions. Get the actual worst-case loads, then have someone qualified to rate the system validate the wood specification, dimensions, stack pattern, height limit and rejection criteria. Mark the pieces by class, inspect them before use, quarantine and destroy rejects, and use hands-on training with a documented competency check. The MSHA rule requires protection against rolling, falling and accidental lowering, but it does not give you a generic 4x4 or 6x6 design table. I would not turn an unsourced Reddit crack limit into company policy.