03/09/2026
The sling's certificate is in a folder ashore. The sling is on deck.
There is a test that settles this in under a minute.
Walk up to a lifting set that is in use. Any one of them. Read the ID mark on it.
Then ask for the file that matches that number.
The result is one of three. The mark is no longer legible. Or it is legible, but the file is ashore. Or a file turns up and it belongs to another assembly from the same batch.
All three mean the same thing. On the day of the inspection, you cannot show that the item on the hook is the item described in the paperwork.
Documentation is not an archive material. It is part of the assembly, the same as the eye termination or the shackle, and it belongs where the work happens.
Without the file to hand, the pre-use check stays a formality.
Run the test this week, on one item. How long did it take?
