Operators these days keep skipping the hand signal test before lifts

Was out on a job last Tuesday by the riverfront in Pittsburgh, and this younger guy hops into the crawler crane, barely even looks at the rigger before he starts swinging. I walked over and asked if he ran through the hand signal check with his crew first. He looked at me like I had two heads. I've been running cranes for almost 25 years now and back in the day that was just part of the morning setup, like checking your boom angle or the wire rope. Has anyone else noticed newer guys skipping that step and just relying on radios or gestures?

3 comments

3 Comments

masonbell21d ago

Told my apprentice last month, if you can't SEE my hands you're not ready to lift.

olivia_bailey16d ago

Had an old timer tell me the same thing when I first started. Took me a few close calls to really get why he said it. Makes a huge difference when you're actually paying attention to what's happening.

ellis.hayden21d ago

Did you teach him the one about not looking at the bucket when you're dumping it? Got that drilled into me early on and it's saved me a lot of messes.