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Rant: Stop treating your load charts like optional reading
I was on a job last Thursday in Austin where the foreman kept trying to push a pick that was clearly over my crane's capacity at the radius we were working. He kept saying "it'll be fine, just go slow" like physics cares about your pace. I stuck to my chart and told him flat out no, which pissed off the whole crew for about 20 minutes. Turns out the steel beam was actually 2 tons heavier than the paperwork said because someone "forgot" to update the tags. If I had listened to him, we could have had a real bad situation on site. Why do people think load charts are just suggestions? Anyone else had a boss or foreman try to bully you into an unsafe pick?
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burns.fiona22d ago
Man, good on you for holding your ground. I've been in that exact spot more times than I can count. My rule of thumb is if someone says "just go slow" while ignoring the chart, that's a red flag they don't know what they're talking about. A good practice is to keep your own copy of the load chart in the cab and take a picture of it on your phone, that way when the foreman tries to argue you can show him the numbers right there. It shuts down the bullying real quick when you can point to the exact limit and say it's not up for debate.
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john_singh22d ago
@burns.fiona you nailed it. A phone pic of the chart is pure gold for shutting down arguments.
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