Chat with a retired ironworker changed how I prep for picks

Had coffee with an old ironworker at the union hall last Thursday. He told me he always spent 10 extra minutes walking the site before any lift, just watching how the ground crew moved. Said he caught three near misses that way over 30 years. Made me realize I rush that part way too often. Any of you guys take time to just watch before you fire up the crane?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_adams6029d ago

Start by saying I've been running cranes for 18 years and I get the OPPOSITE - I'd rather get into the cab fast and watch from up high. The ground gives you one view but the seat gives you the whole picture once you're moving. Maybe that old timer had good reasons but for me the best watching happens when I'm already swinging steel.

lily23029d ago

@phoenix_adams60 you hit the nail on the head about getting up high fast. I had a similar thing happen last month where I jumped in the cab quick and spotted a guy standing right in my blind spot that I would have missed from the ground. The extra height gives you a way better view of what everyone is actually doing on the site. Sometimes those 10 minutes on the ground just make you overthink things that look different from the cab anyway.

the_julia27d ago

My friend Tom used to work with a guy who spent 20 minutes every morning just leaning on a fence watching the site. Tom thought he was lazy until the guy spotted a bad cable on an excavator that would have snapped mid-lift.