OPERC's oil and crane guides

The Off Highway Plane and Equipment Research Centre (OPERC) has introduced two new publications: a guide to understanding oil analysis and a Voluntary Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Cranes in and around Airports.
The guide focuses mainly on used oil analysis, explaining the items that are checked and measured from the oil sample and what the readings can indicate. This includes a run-down of the wear debris, their likely sources in the engine, hydraulics and transmission, plus the potential effects of such wear.
The Code covers the procedures required prior to a crane being used in areas of aircraft movement, which can extend several kilometres beyond the airport perimeter, and has been adopted by BAA.
Each publication costs £30 to non-members and is free to members.
n OPERC is to lower the cost of its online safety test, Safetynet, to £15. It says more than 500 people have already taken the test, which can be accessed via the internet.
Membership of the non-profit-making organisation has topped 200, most of whom are corporate, including construction companies, councils and the military.