Ratchet Straps for Cargo Securing

No. Ratchet straps are designed for cargo securing only. They must never be used for lifting, hoisting, or personnel support. For lifting operations, use certified lifting slings with the correct design factor and markings.

A higher LC does not by itself give a correspondingly higher level of restraint: in a frictional lashing what stops the load moving is the friction between cargo and loading surface, not the rating printed on the strap. The number and lashing capacity of straps follow from the cargo securing calculation per EN 12195-1: cargo mass, the friction coefficient between cargo and loading surface, the lashing angle, and the direction-specific acceleration coefficients (forward, sideways, rearward). Friction dominates — the same load may need twice as many lashings on a smooth steel deck as on a grooved one. Send us your cargo, weight and deck type and we help size the lashing plan.

Lashing straps are not lifting accessories: EN 12195-2 sits outside the machinery legislation that CE marking is tied to, so a compliant ratchet strap carries no CE mark. Compliance is evidenced instead by a Declaration of Conformity to EN 12195-2, a type-test report from a recognised laboratory, and batch testing with a traceability code on every label. We manufacture under an ISO 9001 quality system and run webbing tensile tests, ratchet and end-fitting load tests, and pre-shipment inspection on each batch.

Inspect the webbing for cuts, fraying, UV damage, or chemical contamination. Check that the ratchet mechanism locks and releases correctly and that hooks are not bent or cracked. Remove damaged straps from service.

Typical service temperature for the polyester webbing is −40 °C to +100 °C; the practical limit for a complete assembly can be lower, with hardware coating, thread and label the first to constrain use. Tell us your route climate — desert heat, Nordic winter, reefer containers — and we confirm the assembly limits.

LC (lashing capacity) is the force the assembly may exert on the load — the working rating, quoted in daN. BF (breaking force) is the minimum breaking force of the complete lashing assembly, type-tested per EN 12195-2 with a safety factor of 2 relative to LC. LC is determined by the weakest component of the assembly: webbing, tensioner and end fittings are type-tested together, so the rated capacity reflects the complete assembly, not the webbing alone.

STF (standard tension force) is the clamping force a ratchet assembly transfers to the load, marked per EN 12195-2 with the ratchet handle in the specified closing position. It is what activates friction in a cargo securing calculation per EN 12195-1 — and it varies with the ratchet mechanism, handle length and webbing thickness, so two assemblies with the same LC can clamp differently. The marked STF value for each assembly is confirmed by type testing; ask for it when specifying.

No — webbing lashings are replaced, not repaired. There is no field repair method that restores the rated lashing capacity, so a strap showing cuts, nicks, torn stitching or abrasion goes out of service for assessment and is replaced (see the care points above).

CE marking applies to machinery under Directive 2006/42/EC. Load restraint assemblies are not lifting accessories — the latest draft of EN 1492-4 explicitly excludes cargo securing and lashing from its scope. Our straps are rated and tested to EN 12195-2, with batch test reports supplied.

SHF (standard hand force) is the hand force EN 12195-2 assumes when a person tensions the strap by hand — 50 daN (about 50 kgf, roughly 500 N) for a hand-operated tensioner. It is not a rating of our straps; it is the input the standard fixes so that a published STF value is reproducible, and it is why STF is quoted against a defined handle position. SHF does not add to LC: LC is the force the assembly may exert on the load, while STF is the clamping force actually achieved under that standard hand force. Two assemblies can share an LC and still clamp differently, because STF depends on the ratchet mechanism, handle length and webbing thickness. Improving the mechanical advantage of the tensioner raises STF — not LC.