Rant: I thought everyone knew the hand signal for 'stop'

I was on a site in Tacoma last month and saw a spotter waving both arms in a big X over his head. The operator on a 150-ton mobile crane kept hoisting. The foreman had to run over and yell. That signal is for 'emergency stop', not just 'stop'. The regular stop is a flat hand, palm down. It matters because an emergency means drop the load now. How many of you have seen this mix-up happen?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_gonzalez2mo ago

Tell me about it. Watched a new guy at a lumber yard use a frantic spinning motion for "slow down" while a forklift driver just stared. These signals only work if we all learn the same ones, right?

tyler_fox411mo ago

The best thing you can do is just force the issue before anybody moves anything. I always make the new guys repeat the signals back to me before we start. Nobody wants to be the guy who holds up the job for two minutes, but those two minutes are nothing compared to the time you waste cleaning up a screw up or worse, waiting for an ambulance. It's not about being bossy, it's about being on the same page. If the forklift driver isn't sure what that spinning hand means, he has to stop anyway. That's the whole point, you stop and you figure it out before somebody gets hurt.

emery_craig2mo ago

That "big X over his head" thing. It's everywhere now. People just make up their own signals. Like at a crosswalk, someone will do a weird wave instead of pointing. Or in a warehouse, two guys using totally different hand signs for "go left." Feels like common sense got lost. Basic stuff needs to be basic for a reason. That crane story is scary because it shows the system breaks when people wing it.