As a light and small lifting equipment, chain hoists have two very important data indicators, one is the rated load and the other is the safety factor. The safety factor of most chain hoists is about 1.25 to 1.5, while the rated load ranges from a few tons to tens of tons. Recently, a customer inquired about the relationship between rated load and safety factor.

Generally speaking, a chain hoist has a maximum load value, which is not the rated load. The rated load is considered a set safe load value, and the ratio of the maximum load value to the rated load is the safety factor. Assuming the rated load of the chain hoist is 1 ton and its maximum bearing capacity is 1.5 tons, then its safety factor is 1.5/1=1.5.

The range of this safety factor represents the safe load range, which in layman's terms refers to the safe load range under overload use. This is because the data standard for chain hoists does not mean that accidents will occur immediately when the rated load is exceeded, but rather there is a buffer in the load range, beyond which faults will occur. The size of this range is exactly the specified standard for the safety factor.

A one ton specification chain hoist has a safety factor of 1.5 times the rated lifting capacity, which means that exceeding 50% of the rated lifting capacity, i.e. 1 × (1+50%)=1.5 tons, is not a problem. However, this usage method can cause significant damage to the chain hoist, so it is not allowed in normal lifting work.