Anyone who drives a car is familiar with them: traffic signs. In Germany, there are far too many of them and they are often placed in nonsensical locations. Nevertheless, they regulate traffic and provide guidance. Installing traffic signs in urban and rural areas is a challenge for every highway maintenance department, road maintenance department, or building yard. Even if it is part of their routine tasks. Signs are reinstalled, damaged in accidents, become illegible due to weather conditions, or need to be replaced with new information.
The location where the signs are installed is rarely completely safe. Especially outside built-up areas on highways and country roads, installing or replacing traffic signs always involves danger. It is therefore important that this work is carried out quickly, safely, and ergonomically.
Highway signs, information boards, and traffic signs come in countless sizes and designs. Round, square, mounted on posts, hanging from structures, with or without frames, illuminated, and much more. While small traffic signs such as warning beacons, speed limits, or no-passing signs can be easily transported and attached by hand, larger signs such as directional signs pose a challenge. To ensure the longest possible service life, the signs are usually made of metal and coated with a water-repellent layer. Due to their low, weight-saving material thickness, the information boards also always have sharp edges. Sharp edges are a challenge for any slinging equipment, which is why DGUV Rule 109-017 addresses this issue in a separate chapter. In addition, the sensitive surface of the signs must not be damaged during transport and installation. Due to all these factors, only suitable lifting equipment should be used for handling traffic signs. You can read more about this below.
Wind and weather make it difficult to handle traffic signs, both when loading trucks at the depot and at the installation site. Wet metal surfaces can cause attached slings to slip during lifting, posing a safety risk.
Larger traffic signs with an area of several square meters are also susceptible to wind. This in turn makes the lifting process a safety risk for the rigger.
Loads must never be allowed to swing and injure people. Despite wind and weather, however, all handling must be carried out safely and ergonomically. Under no circumstances must the load fall and cause injury to people.
There are certainly more pleasant and safer places to work than a busy motorway or country road. It is therefore particularly important that work in these locations is completed quickly so that people are not exposed to danger for longer than absolutely necessary. If traffic signs need to be replaced or erected at these locations, the construction site is always cordoned off over a wide area to ensure maximum safety for the workers. Lanes are narrowed and traffic is diverted past the construction site. Despite the barriers, traffic rushes past unchecked, only a few centimeters away. Although road and highway maintenance crews and municipal workers have a certain amount of routine, they do not want to expose themselves to any more danger than is absolutely necessary. If the installation can be carried out quickly and safely, this is to the advantage of everyone involved.
In practice, traffic signs are very often attached with textile slings such as round slings. They are sometimes wrapped around the signs in an adventurous manner and used to lift the load. Due to the sharp edges, smooth surface, and lack of attachment points, this type of slinging carries a certain risk. The load can start to swing and the round slings can slip on the smooth surface and cause the load to fall. Since traffic signs are not equipped with classic attachment points like machine parts, the safest solution is basically to grip the load directly using a sheet metal clamp (also known as a lifting clamp).
The CGSMHT safety sheet metal clamp from Carl Stahl is ideal for lifting and transporting traffic signs. It was developed specifically for this purpose. There are several advantages to using this clamp:
The safety clamps are very easy to operate by hand. This means they can be attached quickly – without any additional tools. For large signs weighing more than 350 kg, combine several clamps with each other and then connect them to the crane using a chain.
The main target groups are road maintenance departments, motorway maintenance departments, and municipal building yards that are responsible for replacing or installing traffic signs. Attached to the slinging device, which in turn is connected directly to the crane hook of the truck crane, the CGSMHT safety sheet metal clamp can be used on the company premises to safely pick up the traffic sign from a rack on the ground and lift it onto the truck.
Traffic signs do not usually have any extra attachment points, such as eyelets or loops. It is therefore not possible to attach the signs or information boards directly with a hook. In practice, round slings are often used. However, attaching them to the load is time-consuming and poses a safety risk. The CGSMHT safety plate clamp, on the other hand, can be attached in no time, securely clamps the load thanks to locking pins, and is easy to use in any situation.
The CGSMHT safety plate clamp has been specially developed for use with traffic signs and information boards. Its design and coated gripping jaws hold the load firmly and securely without scratching the paintwork. The clamp is also designed with a large opening. This allows you to easily grip traffic signs that have a frame. However, the sign itself must not exceed a thickness of 2.00 mm. Due to its properties, the CGSHMT is not suitable for transporting steel beams, sheet metal, or standard profiles. Other sheet metal clamps are available for these loads.
Other loads also require different clamps: For example, sheet metal clamps with an adjustment function and interchangeable gripping jaws are suitable for handling sandwich panels.
Let our expert advisors advise you on handling sandwich panels.
