A new guy in Spokane told me to just 'eyeball it' on a 40-ton lift

We were setting steel for a warehouse last fall, and I had a greenhorn on the ground crew. I asked for the exact distance to the column base, and he just waved his hand and said, 'It's about ten feet, just eyeball it.' I had to shut the whole lift down right there. You don't 'eyeball' a load that could kill three people if it swings wrong. I made him get the tape and call out the numbers to the inch. Ever since then, I make sure my signalers know that 'close enough' isn't in our job description. How do you guys handle it when someone on your crew gets too casual with the numbers?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_hall882d agoMost Upvoted

Had a guy on a bridge job try to guess a grade with his boot. Shut the pour down and made him watch me run the level myself for an hour. Now I keep a cheap laser level in my truck and hand it to anyone who looks unsure. They get the point when they have to do it twice.

park.iris21d ago

You ever hear about that crane collapse in Tacoma a few years back? My buddy was on a site nearby and said the whole thing started with someone eyeballing a load. They don't let anyone get casual with the numbers after that.

troy_ross21d agoMost Upvoted

I remember that incident, but the official report pointed to a corroded weld that failed. It wasn't about eyeballing the load. Those cranes have load charts and computers for a reason. The problem was a hidden structural flaw they missed during inspection. People are quick to blame the operator, but sometimes the machine itself is the weak link. That's why they changed the inspection rules more than anything.