- Technology explained – equipment and protection
Round Sling, Webbing Sling, Chain Sling: What Each Lifting Accessory Can Do
By Tobias Schott · Reading time approx. 8 minutes · Last updated: October 2026
Round sling, webbing sling, chain sling and wire rope sling connect the load to the crane hook, and each of these lifting accessories has a strength, a weakness and a limit that is stated on the label. Anyone who commissions or accompanies a lifting operation sees them on every lift: the round sling in a signal colour, the flat webbing sling, the chain sling with its hooks. In the tender they are called lifting accessories; on site, "the sling" or "the chain".
This article explains how each of these accessories is constructed, what the marking means and why a lifting accessory carries different loads depending on the slinging method. The selection for your load is covered in the guide on lifting accessories for heavy loads – we do not repeat it here.
What is a round sling – and what distinguishes it from a webbing sling and a chain?
A round sling is an endless wound strand of polyester yarn in a protective sleeve that is placed around the load or into the hook as a closed loop. The webbing sling, by contrast, is a flat woven belt with reinforced eyes at both ends. The chain sling consists of a master link, one to four chain legs and hooks or connecting components at the end.
All three are lifting accessories – detachable connections between the lifting attachment, i.e. the crane hook, and the load.
Profile
- Purpose: Connection between crane hook and load; takes the lifting force and transfers it into the lifting points or around the load.
- Types: Round sling (endless, textile), webbing sling (flat, textile, with eyes), chain sling (steel, one to four legs), wire rope sling (wire rope with ferrules or splice), shackle as connecting component.
- Material and temperature: Polyester tolerates frost and moderate warmth but no heat; grade 8 chains carry far beyond that but gradually lose capacity in intense heat.
- Marking: Label (textile) or tag (chain, rope) with capacity per slinging method, material, standard, manufacturer and CE mark; the colour of the round sling indicates the capacity in accordance with DIN EN 1492.
- Inspection duty and interval: Visual inspection by the slinger before every use; inspection by a competent person at least once a year, for chains additionally a crack test at longer intervals – the basis is DGUV Rule 100-500 on load-handling attachments in hoisting operations.
- Discard criteria: Cuts or exposed core on textile; missing label; on chains elongation, deformation, cracks, opened hooks; on ropes broken wires and kinks.
How are round sling, webbing sling, chain sling and rope constructed?
Each lifting accessory carries in a different way, and its strengths and weaknesses follow from that. The round sling carries with many parallel layers of yarn inside; the protective sleeve does not carry. If the core emerges from the sleeve, the sling must be discarded.
The webbing sling is woven in one or more layers and has sewn eyes at the ends. It lies flat against the load and distributes the pressure over a larger area, but is sensitive to edges in the longitudinal direction and to twisting in the hook.
The chain sling consists of grade 8 round steel chain in accordance with DIN EN 818. One to four legs hang from the master link, with hooks at the end, often with shortening clutches. With the clutch, a leg can be shortened link by link – this is how we level a load with an off-centre centre of gravity.
The wire rope sling is a wire rope with eyes made of ferrules or a splice. It is more edge-resistant than the webbing and lighter than the chain, but sensitive to kinks and tight bending radii. The shackle is not a lifting accessory but the connecting component: a bow with a pin between sling and lifting point, straight as a D-shackle or widened as a bow shackle for round slings.
| Lifting accessory | Strength | Weakness | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round sling | Light, flexible, protects coated surfaces; capacity recognisable by colour. | Sharp edges, heat, chemicals; core invisible. | Painted machines, vessels, lifting points with shackle. |
| Webbing sling | Wide bearing surface, low surface pressure; good in basket hitch around smooth loads. | Edges in the direction of the webbing, twisting, UV ageing. | Pipes, vessels, packaged machines. |
| Chain sling | Edge-resistant, heat-resistant, shortenable; capacity stable even in rough site practice. | Heavy, loud, leaves pressure marks on paint and coatings. | Steel components, cable drums, containers on fixed eyes. |
| Wire rope sling | More edge-resistant than textile, lighter than chain, high strength at small diameter. | Kinks, tight bending radii, broken wires; not shortenable. | Long loads, spreader beams, continuous use on the crane hook. |
What does the marking say – label, tag and colour code?
The marking is the document of the lifting accessory: without a label or tag there is no permissible capacity, and the accessory may not be used. On textile the label is sewn in; on chain slings and wire rope slings a tag hangs from the master link.
It states the capacity per slinging method, the material, the standard, the manufacturer, a traceability number and the CE mark. For chains, the grade, number of legs and the permissible angle of inclination are added; many companies add the inspection date with a sticker.
The colour of a round sling indicates the capacity in a straight lift, according to a fixed system in the standard:
| Colour of the round sling | Capacity in a straight lift |
|---|---|
| Violet | 1 tonne. |
| Green | 2 tonnes. |
| Yellow | 3 tonnes. |
| Grey | 4 tonnes. |
| Red | 5 tonnes. |
| Brown | 6 tonnes. |
| Blue | 8 tonnes. |
| Amber | 10 tonnes. |
Above ten tonnes the colour remains orange, and the capacity is then stated only on the label. On textile accessories the label is also coloured: blue stands for polyester, green for polyamide, brown for polypropylene.
Why does the same round sling carry one tonne on one occasion and two tonnes on another?
The capacity on the label applies to a straight, vertical lift, and every other slinging method changes it by a fixed factor. In a choke hitch – the sling is pulled through its own loop – 80 % of the capacity remains. In a basket hitch, i.e. U-shaped under the load with both ends in the hook, the same sling carries twice as much.
Added to this is the angle of inclination. If two legs hang at an angle, the force in each leg increases with the angle to the vertical. The load factors for this are given in DGUV Information 209-021 for slingers: two legs up to 45 degrees 1.4, between 45 and 60 degrees only 1.0; three and four legs 2.1 and 1.5 respectively. A four-leg sling is calculated like a three-leg sling because all four legs rarely carry equally. Above 60 degrees, slinging is not permitted.
In practice this means: a flat, wide sling arrangement looks harmless and is the more dangerous variant. A steep arrangement needs lifting height – if that is missing, the spreader beam comes into play, a beam that sets the legs vertical. The ratio between breaking force and capacity is defined differently for each material: textile with a safety factor of 7, rope with 5, chain with 4. That is why a round sling for ten tonnes is so thick and a chain so slim.
When must a lifting accessory be discarded – and who decides?
A lifting accessory must be discarded as soon as damage could reduce its capacity, and this is decided first by the slinger during the visual inspection before the lift. On textile, this means cuts, chafing, melted spots, knots and an exposed core. For chains, clear limits apply: more than 5 % elongation of a leg or more than 10 % widening of the hook opening. On rope, broken wires, birdcaging, kinks and rust count.
The second instance is the competent person, who inspects the accessory at least once a year and documents the result. A chain additionally undergoes a crack test at longer intervals, because hairline cracks cannot be seen with the naked eye. A lifting accessory without a legible label is taken out of circulation, even if it looks new. This is not legal advice but the rule on every site.
Edge protection prevents premature discard: an edge with a small radius cuts textile under load, and the cutting force increases with angled pull. Protective sleeves, corner protectors and timber packing distribute the force. The chain is itself edge-resistant but does not protect the load – there, timber belongs between steel and paint.
What we pay attention to
Our fitters check every lifting accessory twice: when loading it in the vehicle and on the hook.
- We read the label, not the colour: the colour shows the class, the label the capacity per slinging method.
- We recalculate the angle of inclination before the lift, not only when the load hangs askew; if the lifting height is missing, we plan for the spreader beam.
- We sling at lifting points, never around painted casings, cladding or pipework.
- We place edge protection under every textile sling that touches an edge, even if the edge looks blunt.
- We close the shackle pin fully and turn it back a quarter turn so that it does not jam under load.
- We immediately take textile with cuts, chains with elongation and any accessory without a label out of service – into disposal, not into the corner.
Where we use it
In the Rhine-Main region, almost every lift we do hangs on one of these connections. When setting five diesel tanks in Raunheim – a sling assembly of round slings and shackles engaged four welded-on lifting points on each tank weighing around 16 tonnes – a round sling around the shell was not an option because of the coating. When moving in standby generators – we choose chains instead of round slings at sharp edges. A cable drum in the port of Aschaffenburg weighing around 22 tonnes hung from the chain sling on the spreader of the handling equipment. We plan and carry out these lifts as part of Lift & Shift; which accessory with which capacity is used is determined beforehand by the appointed person for lifting operations.
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Do you have questions about how this works on your site?
Do you have questions about how slinging works on your site or which sling assembly suits your load? We look at load, lifting points and lifting height together with you. Request a callback – we will get back to you.
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About the author
Tobias Schott
Managing director of Omega Mounting GmbH, Rodgau · more than 20 years of hands-on experience in installation and maintenance
A trained mechatronics technician and at home in maintenance, servicing and industrial installation since 2004 – first at his father's side, since 2012 with Omega Mounting: from the overhead conveyor in Frankfurt to the crane system in a new-build hall. As appointed person for lifting operations he plans and leads lifting operations in data centers and on industrial sites in the Rhine-Main region, is an instructor and examiner for cranes, MEWPs and telehandlers as well as a safety officer. On jobs abroad he is known as the "German Troubleshooter" – the one you call when things get stuck on site. He learnt what quality means not from a manual but from his father: Made in Germany as a standard for his own work, not as a label. That is why it comes first at Omega Mounting – before speed and before price. The Technology explained articles explain the machines and the technology his team works with every day: what counts on our sites is in there – what only appears in the brochure is not.
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