Old timer told me my crane signals were sloppy at a site in Denver

I was setting up a 50 ton lattice boom on a high school project last Wednesday when a retired operator walked over and said my hand signals looked like I was swatting flies. He showed me how to lock my wrist and keep the motions crisp so the operator can read me from 200 feet away. I started drilling the standard signals every morning for 10 minutes and now the guys notice the difference. Has anyone else had an old hand call them out on something you thought you had down?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_smith11d ago

Man, that story hit home for me. A few years back I was on a job in Phoenix and this old ironworker just stopped and stared at me while I was signaling. He didn't say a word, just held up his hand and showed me the difference between a clean boom up and what I was doing. I thought I had it down pat too but he was right, my wrist was all over the place. Started practicing in front of a mirror with a broomstick for a boom and it completely changed how the operators talked to me after that. Your mileage may vary but drilling it every morning like you said is the real deal.

garcia.miles11d ago

The broomstick trick is genius.