Wednesday, May 20, 2026
The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) recently scheduled #GLAD2026, as it will be celebrated on social media, for Thursday 2 July. This year’s tagline is a powerful and relevant one: ‘Not all lifting equipment is created equal.’
Six years after the concept’s launch — this summer will be the seventh staging of the event — we have become adept at coming together as manufacturers, suppliers and end users to share material that promotes safe and high quality load lifting. Social media posts, videos, articles, and in-person activity will again be bound together by the hashtag.
However, the fact that we still need to emphasise that not all lifting equipment is created equal highlights two important realities. First, it demonstrates that our annual awareness campaign still has significant work to do if it is to fully achieve its objectives and influence behaviours across the industry. Second, it underlines the need for this message to extend far beyond a single awareness day and resonate consistently across the design, manufacture, refurbishment and repair, through to the hire, maintenance and use of lifting equipment.
Too often, lifting products are still viewed through the narrow lens of price, availability, or capacity, without sufficient consideration given to duty classification, operating environment, lifecycle expectations, or long-term reliability.
The consequences of those decisions are rarely confined to the purchasing stage; they are ultimately inherited by the engineers, inspectors, technicians, and operators responsible for using the equipment safely every day.
LEEA understands the scale of the challenge. As part of this year’s campaign activity, the association is taking a two-pronged approach through a spring survey initiative that places both product suppliers and procurement professionals at the centre of its research. One of the key issues identified is the inconsistent way lifting equipment is described and presented to market.
Across the industry, manufacturers use a wide variety of terminology, classifications, and specification conventions, creating ambiguity for buyers attempting to compare products or determine suitability for a given application. The result is that procurement professionals can struggle to differentiate between equipment engineered for continuous, demanding service and products intended only for lighter or infrequent use. Accident and incident data continues to demonstrate the real-world consequences of those misunderstandings.
LEEA has been open about its end goal to bring suppliers and buyers together to make a collective pledge to do better.
Old bangers
Clearly, the cheapest option is not always the safest.
When end users source products from reputable manufacturers and suppliers, they are not simply buying a piece of hardware; they are investing in engineering oversight, traceability, documentation, standards compliance, technical support, and a greater degree of confidence in the product’s suitability for the intended application.
A solid analogy I encountered recently suggested that too many procurement decision-makers still approach the acquisition of a crane or hoist in the same way they might purchase a company vehicle, as though lifting equipment exists as a largely interchangeable commodity. In reality, these products occupy a fundamentally different category. Specification must consider duty cycle, operating environment, fatigue considerations, maintenance expectations, and consequences of failure.
If lifting equipment fails, the implications are rarely limited to inconvenience or downtime. A crane does not simply stall at the side of the road, nor can an operator lift the bonnet and casually investigate the issue. In lifting operations, equipment failure can result in dropped loads, structural collapse, serious injury, or loss of life. That reality is precisely why lifting equipment must be viewed differently from many other categories of industrial products or machinery.
Heavy engineering environments, such as steel works, place enormous demands on lifting equipment. High temperatures, abrasive conditions, continuous duty, etc. increase the ramifications of failure. In these settings, sourcing reputable, quality-branded gear is not simply a procurement preference; it is a critical safety decision. People can be seriously injured or killed, while production and wider operations may also be severely impacted.
The message must also persistently extend down to individual components and lifting accessories, not just bigger equipment. I have seen end users invest heavily in a £1 million crane system, only to undermine that investment by sourcing the cheapest possible chain slings to hang from the hook.
It demonstrates a dangerous disconnect in procurement thinking, where the crane itself is recognised as safety-critical infrastructure, but the accessories attached to it are treated as interchangeable commodities.
You can apply the concept that not all lifting equipment is created equal to every item of gear in a rigging store, even though they might appear to be similar:
Not all chain is created equal.
Not all shackles are created equal.
Not all lifting points are created equal.
Etc.
Digital product passports
We have all read about the European Union’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the emergence of digital product passports. The lifting industry is well positioned to demonstrate how digitalisation can support safer operations and better-informed decision-making.
My company’s live365 concept, for example, combines digitalised inspection services with advanced data analysis software to identify trends, improve traceability, and strengthen safety oversight across lifting operations.
At its core, live365 is built around the importance of maintaining essential safety documentation — both current and historical — while ensuring any-time access to inspection records, certification, maintenance history, and operational data. In an industry where compliance, equipment integrity, and informed procurement decisions are critical, the ability to access accurate information quickly and transparently is becoming increasingly valuable.
Look out for details of a special event taking place this July alongside #GLAD2026, which will shine a spotlight on the lifting industry’s ongoing digitalisation journey and the growing role technology is playing in improving safety, traceability, compliance, and operational insight.
Not all people are created equal
If not all lifting equipment is created equal, then neither are the people behind it.
The strength of a company culture is not determined solely by leadership statements or corporate values written on a wall, but by the daily actions, attitudes, and standards upheld by its workforce. Employees therefore carry a shared responsibility to contribute positively to that environment, through professionalism, accountability, collaboration, and a willingness to support both colleagues and customers. In safety-critical industries especially, culture is not an abstract concept; it directly influences decision-making, communication, operational standards, and ultimately outcomes.
Just as organisations invest in the right equipment for the task, they must also recognise the value of people.
Perhaps there’s a standalone blog about this subject alone.
Watch this space!
Steve Hutin
Managing Director
Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd
