Rigging gear, slings and ropes: what the sources say

This page reports what the named codes, regulators and makers say. It is not training and does not teach the work. This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It covers slings that make an anchor or carry a load, and the ropes that run through the rigging. All pages were read on October 9, 2026. The courses that teach rigging are in the guides on chainsaw tickets and certifications by country, and the UK award is on the page for aerial tree rigging. Climbing lines are in the guide on climbing lines and lanyards, and the names of slings and knots in rigging words.

Credits. Wording from the SafeWork NSW Tree works code of practice is adapted under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, with sentences shortened and reworded. Wording from the WorkSafe New Zealand code is adapted with the source and copyright status acknowledged. OSHA and TCI Magazine are described in our own words with links.

OSHA: the sling standard

OSHA's sling standard, 29 CFR 1910.184, is written for slings used with material handling equipment to move material by hoisting. Its scope lists alloy steel chain, wire rope, metal mesh, natural or synthetic fibre rope of conventional three-strand construction, and synthetic web. For fibre rope slings it says the sling carries a permanent, legible marking of rated capacity for the hitches used, the fibre type and the number of legs. It sets minimum tucks for splices, four full tucks for an eye splice in synthetic rope and eight for a short splice, says knots are not used in place of splices, and sets a minimum clear length between eye splices of 10 times the rope diameter. It lists removal conditions for fibre rope slings: abnormal wear, powdered fibre between strands, broken or cut fibres, uneven strands, discolouration or rot, and distorted hardware.

TCI Magazine: sling kinds

The article Rigging tools: an overview for ground technicians, November 1, 2020, names four main sling configurations: dead-eye, with a spliced eye at one end only; multi-sling with a ring and several attachment holes; whoopie, a double-eye sling with one adjustable eye; and loopie, one adjustable round loop. It says rigging rings and slings are paired by rating, and gives as an example a ring rated at 5,500 pounds on a quarter-inch sling rated at 500 pounds as too much potential for overloading.

WorkSafe New Zealand: wire rope and splices

Section 3.4.6 of the WorkSafe New Zealand arboriculture code says wire rope is certified by the maker or vendor for its breaking strength, that knots in wire rope are prohibited, that eye-to-eye splices are not made in a pulling or lifting rope, and that only long splices or butt splices join such ropes. Section 3.4.4 says the weight of sections to be removed is assessed so the lowering point and ropes stay inside safe working loads.

SafeWork NSW: the lowering rope

In the SafeWork NSW Tree works code of practice, the lowering rope is free of intermediate knots, twists and tangles, knots and hitches are chosen for the task and dressed and set before loading, the climbing system rope stays separate from the lowering rope, and lowering ropes are long enough. It also says a sling can lose strength through reeving or wider angles.

Side by side

Source	Marking	Knots and splices
OSHA 1910.184	Rated capacity, fibre type, legs	Four full tucks in an eye splice of synthetic rope; knots not used instead of splices
WorkSafe NZ code	Certified breaking strength for wire rope	No knots in wire rope; no eye-to-eye splices in pulling rope
SafeWork NSW code	Rated strength known before use	Lowering rope free of intermediate knots