Started spotting my own rigging signals instead of relying on hand talkers

Used to just stand there and wait for the signal guy to tell me everything. Then we had a job last month downtown where the spotter got hit in the head with a falling chunk of concrete from a demo crew two floors up. He was fine but out cold for a minute. Had to finish the lift on my own eyes. Now I keep an eye on the load path and give my own directions if I can see the landing zone better. Anybody else stopped trusting the ground guys 100 percent after a close call?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby_sanchez4526d ago

Yeah my buddy had a crane snatch a load right out of his hands. Now he watches the rigging himself too, doesn't wait for anybody to tell him what to do.

williams.amy26d ago

Has anyone ever stopped to think about the chain reaction a crane snatch can set off? Like, it's not just the load that gets yanked, but all the equipment around it can shift or fall if the rigging wasn't set right. I wonder how many times a small mistake in tying a knot ends up causing a bigger accident down the line because nobody double-checked the groundwork first. Your buddy's smart to stay hands-on, but maybe the real fix is changing how we train folks on the basics before they even touch a lever.