ISO 17440:2014 is intended to be used together with the other relevant International Standards in its series. As such, they specify general conditions, requirements and methods to prevent hazards in hooks as part of all types of cranes.

ISO 17440:2014 covers the following parts of hooks and types of hooks: bodies of any type of point hooks made of steel forgings; machined shanks of hooks with a thread/nut suspension. Its principles can be applied to other types of shank hooks and also where stress concentration factors relevant to that shank construction are determined and used. Plate hooks, which are those assembled from one or several parallel parts of rolled steel plates are not covered.

ISO 17440:2014 is applicable to hooks from materials with ultimate strength of not more than 800 N/mm2 and yield stress of not more than 600 N/mm2.

It is aimed at reducing or eliminating the risks associated with the following hazards: exceeding the limits of strength (yield, ultimate, fatigue); exceeding temperature limits of material; unintentional disengagement of the load from the hook.

It is applicable to hook designs in general and to cranes manufactured after the date of its publication, and serves as a reference base for product standards of particular crane types.

It deals only with the limit state method in accordance with ISO 8686‑1.