A boom monitoring system includes at least one sensor for monitoring information about a boom in real time, and a controller that performs the steps of determining an effective load applied to the boom based on the information from the at least one sensor and determining whether the effective load exceeds a predetermined limit. The system further includes an alert indicator communicatively coupled to the controller for producing an alert when the effective load exceeds the predetermined limit. A boom monitoring method includes determining a current boom geometry based on at least one sensor, determining a load limit based on the current boom geometry and predetermined load values, determining an effective load based on a hydraulic fluid pressure of a boom hydraulic cylinder, determining whether the effective load exceeds the load limit, and producing an alert when the effective load exceeds the load limit.