SWL stands for Safe Working Load, which is the maximum safe force that a piece of lifting equipment, lifting device, or accessory can exert to lift, suspend, or lower a given mass without fear of breaking. It is an important safety measure to checkmate the lifting equipments overloading capacity. The SWL is calculated by dividing the minimum breaking load (MBL) by a safety factor (SF) . The SF is usually between 4 to 6 but can increase to 10 if the equipment poses a greater risk. The SWL can also be called the Normal Working Load (NWL) . The term SWL is no longer used to identify the maximum capacity of equipment due to it being too vague and leaving it open for legal issues. The US and European standards switched to the Working Load Limit (WLL) standard shortly after. The WLL is the maximum working load designed by the manufacturer, representing a force that is much less than that required to make the lifting equipment fail or yield.