Glossary

ASME is the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a not-for-profit professional association that supports the engineering community through collaboration, knowledge sharing, career/skills development, training, and technical resources, with a mission oriented around advancing engineering for societal benefit.

ASME was founded in 1880 (with early organizing activity dated February 16, 1880, in New York City) as a forum for engineers to discuss challenges emerging from industrialization and mechanization; its role quickly became closely tied to improving the safety and reliability of industrial equipment—especially boilers and pressure vessels—as the need for uniform rules and safer practices became clear.

Today, ASME is best known across industrial and fastener-adjacent fields as a major codes and standards developer and publisher. Its standards are created through an open, consensus-based committee process involving volunteer experts, and they are used worldwide to guide design, fabrication, inspection, and safe operation. A flagship example is the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC), which provides rules and technical requirements for boilers and pressure vessels and is widely adopted and referenced in industry and regulation. ASME also supports industry through certification/conformity assessment programs and extensive training and professional development offerings.

ASME B30 is a series of safety standards published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) covering the safe design, construction, installation, operation, inspection, testing, and maintenance of lifting and load-handling equipment—including categories like cranes, hoists, derricks, hooks, slings, jacks, and related rigging hardware. It’s widely used across industrial, construction, and plant environments as the baseline “how to use it safely” standard family for lifting systems.

ASME B30 is organized into multiple numbered volumes, where each volume focuses on a specific equipment type (for example, overhead/gantry cranes, hooks, slings, below-the-hook lifting devices, rigging hardware, etc.). This modular structure is why you’ll see references like ASME B30.9 (Slings) or ASME B30.26 (Rigging Hardware)—they’re all part of the broader B30 family.

For fastener-adjacent and rigging-related products, ASME B30.26 is a common touchpoint because it addresses detachable rigging hardware used in load handling—such as shackles, links, rings, swivels, turnbuckles, eyebolts, and hoist rings—and sets expectations for things like proper use, inspection, and maintenance.