A new guy tried leveling with just the indicators the other day

Kid was maybe 22, fresh off his cert. He was setting up a 50 ton Grove and refused to use a level because he said the bubble on the outrigger pad was enough. I watched him lift a 12 foot steel beam and it swung sideways almost took out a dumpster behind it. Has anyone else had to deal with someone skipping basic setup steps like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettywilson1mo ago

Saw a article about this actually. Said something like 40% of crane incidents come from bad setup like skipping levels. That 50 ton Grove will put a beam in the ground before you blink if the outriggers are off. Kid's lucky he only tagged a dumpster and not somebody's car or worse.

ellis.susan1mo ago

That 40% stat sounds about right, I read a similar report out of OSHA a few years back. Made me double-check my own outrigger pads every time since then. @bettywilson hit it on the head about the setup, it's the little checks that keep a 50 ton machine from going sideways.