TS–018 Specifications for a ‘Mass Standards Cradle’

Reference documents

• Weights and Measures Act 1987 (external link)
  • Section 7A
• Weights and Measures Regulations 1999(external link)
  • Schedule 7

Policy

Trading Standards recognises that a cradle can be used to hold Working Standards of mass to make the handling of a large number of masses safer and more convenient. Trading Standards supports this practice and provides the following guidelines and conditions of use.

Design guidelines:

• A cradle should be made of a rigid stable material e.g. hollow box section or angle iron, and be sufficiently strong to withstand normal wear and tear
• The cradle should bear a unique identification
• The cradle should be designed and built to prevent any areas that could accumulate dirt or debris and cause the cradle to alter its weight
• A cradle may be fitted with lifting eyes, holes for slinging , or skids for forklift handling
• If any shackles etc. are fitted, they must be welded across the ends to make them non-removable as they become part of the weight of the cradle
• Any cradle must be built with an adjusting chamber that is capable of holding enough adjustment material to bring the cradle to the required nominal weight and the chamber must be able to be sealed once adjusted
• Cradles must be built to a nominal weight that is a whole number, e.g. 40 kg, 60 kg, 120 kg

Conditions of use:

• Cradles will be tested, stamped / sealed and issued with a Verification report by Trading Standards
• Cradles should be listed in the Quality Management System for the accredited organisation, under Clause 5 ‘Resources’ and / or Clause 12 ‘Working standards and test equipment’, as per the Schedule 7 of the Weights and Measures Regulations 1999
• Cradles must not be used independently without masses
• Cradles must be recorded as a resource on a test sheet when used by an Accredited Person, as per Technical Policy TS - 002.

Technical Policy TS - 002 Information required on an Accredited Persons test sheet