Rant: Had a near miss with a load swing in high winds over in Spokane

Three years ago I was on a tower crane job downtown, setting steel beams. The wind kicked up fast, way past the limit on my chart. I tried to lower the load but it started swinging hard toward a scaffold. My spotter yelled 'Hold it!' and I managed to stop the swing just a few feet out. We had to wait two hours for the wind to die down before finishing. Anyone else had to make a quick call like that in bad weather?

3 comments

3 Comments

alexthompson27d ago

Remember when guys used to brag about pushing limits in bad weather? Your story is exactly why I don't buy that tough guy stuff anymore. I saw a load swing into a parked trailer once, and it was just dumb luck no one was hurt. Now I figure if the chart says stop, you stop, no debate. Doesn't that make more sense than gambling with everyone below?

dakota_murphy9027d ago

Totally agree with @alexthompson, I read a study on how pressure makes people ignore safety charts.

logan63218d ago

Man, that's it exactly. You see it everywhere, not just cranes. It's the guy who drives way too fast in the rain because he's done it before. It's the person who ignores the ladder's weight limit for one more trip up. Charts and rules get treated like suggestions from some nervous office guy, not the collected close calls of everyone who came before you. The gamble always feels fine until the one time the wind shifts or the ladder foot slips.