Safe Working Load (SWL) sometimes stated as the Normal Working Load (NWL) is the load that a piece of Lifting Equipment, lifting device or accessory can safely lift, suspend, or lower without fear of breaking. Usually marked on the equipment by the manufacturer and is often 1/5 of the Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS) although other fractions may be used such as 1/4, 1/6 and 1/10
Other synonyms include Working Load Limit (WLL), which is the maximum working load designed by the manufacturer. The load represents a mass or force that is much less than that required to make the lifting equipment fail or yield, also known as the Minimum Breaking Load (MBL). The SWL is calculated using a safety factor For example, 5:1 (5 to 1, or 1/5). An example of this would be a chain that has a MBL of 2000 lbs would have a SWL or WLL of 400 lbs if a safety factor of 5 (5 to 1) is used
Famous quotes containing the words safe, working and/or load:
“Still it wouldn’t reward the watcher to stay awake
In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break
On his particular time and personal sight.
That calm seems certainly safe to last tonight.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We can come up with a working definition of life, which is what we did for the Viking mission to Mars. We said we could think in terms of a large molecule made up of carbon compounds that can replicate, or make copies of itself, and metabolize food and energy. So that’s the thought: macrocolecule, metabolism, replication.”
—Cyril Ponnamperuma (b. 1923)
“Belief and love,—a believing love will relieve us of a vast load of care. O my brothers, God exists. There is a soul at the centre of nature, and over the will of every man, so that none of us can wrong the universe.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)