Raise the boom and lower the load. Dog everything.
April 14, 2009 9:43 AM Subscribe
Hand signals are used to transmit instructions from a spotter on the ground to the crane operator high above. Here is a poster illustrating those hand signals, courtesy of the California Crane School. Feel free to post it at your job site, or to have any of the images tattooed onto your forearms.
After a recent crane accident in Vancouver, what's most surprising to me is that, at least where I live, crane operators do not have to be licensed or even formally trained, and I'm sure it's the same for many jurisdictions in North America.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:47 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by KokuRyu at 9:47 AM on April 14, 2009
I now understand PeeWee's Tequila dance in an entirely different light.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 9:48 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by kuujjuarapik at 9:48 AM on April 14, 2009
*extends boom*
posted by rocket88 at 9:49 AM on April 14, 2009 [8 favorites]
posted by rocket88 at 9:49 AM on April 14, 2009 [8 favorites]
Man, I'm going to so tear up the dance floor this Saturday thanks to these helpful steps. "Dog everything" in dubstep style!
posted by fallingbadgers at 9:49 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by fallingbadgers at 9:49 AM on April 14, 2009
"Dog Everything" is my new favorite order/phrase/band name/whatever.
posted by Spatch at 9:50 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by Spatch at 9:50 AM on April 14, 2009
Here are some lol-worthy SWAT hand signals from the dusty archives of the internetterwebs.
posted by pyrex at 9:54 AM on April 14, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by pyrex at 9:54 AM on April 14, 2009 [5 favorites]
Man, I'm going to so tear up the dance floor this Saturday thanks to these helpful steps.
"Authorities are still puzzling over a crane accident that damaged a downtown nightclub last night. Early police reports indicate the crane operator became confused by signals from the ground..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
"Authorities are still puzzling over a crane accident that damaged a downtown nightclub last night. Early police reports indicate the crane operator became confused by signals from the ground..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:56 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
Yo Dog, I heard you like Everything, so I put a Whip Line in your Main Hoist so you can Lower the Boom and Raise the Load while you Retract Boom.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:58 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by burnmp3s at 9:58 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
Authorities are still puzzling over a crane accident that damaged a downtown nightclub last night. Early police reports indicate the crane operator became confused by signals from the ground...
Witnesses report that the DJ was yelling something about "raising the roof" shortly before the accident.
posted by jquinby at 10:17 AM on April 14, 2009 [2 favorites]
Witnesses report that the DJ was yelling something about "raising the roof" shortly before the accident.
posted by jquinby at 10:17 AM on April 14, 2009 [2 favorites]
I woud imagine that crane signals, like any other form of communication, occasionally have different dialects. I was a crane driver several summers through university, and while I recognize most of these, a couple are different ("hoist/lower load slowly" are different from those I was directed with, in particular -- if somebody on the ground circled his index finger over his flattened palm, I would have assumed he was asking about cake recipes).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:18 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:18 AM on April 14, 2009
☞⤿
posted by not_on_display at 10:26 AM on April 14, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 10:26 AM on April 14, 2009 [2 favorites]
Sadako Sasaki made 1000 hand crane signals.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:28 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:28 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
The weird thing is that any of those gestures means something completely different to a crane operator if you're not striking a sultry pose.
Remember, site safety is priority #1. Always jut your hips to the right and show some cleavage to the crane operator. Otherwise, your "Dog Everything" might accidentally turn into a "Drop Shit Everywhere".
posted by barnacles at 10:32 AM on April 14, 2009
Remember, site safety is priority #1. Always jut your hips to the right and show some cleavage to the crane operator. Otherwise, your "Dog Everything" might accidentally turn into a "Drop Shit Everywhere".
posted by barnacles at 10:32 AM on April 14, 2009
I don't see the signal for "The crane is toppling over on me," but since that signal is "wave your arms in a panic," it may not even be necessary to teach it.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:38 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:38 AM on April 14, 2009
I can't believe I'm hearing myself argue for more generic boring clip art people, but that poster is just flat out creepy. I guess I can toss Crane Operator off the list of occupations girls can do.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:09 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:09 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]
I looked less sultry and more sweaty in my dealing with crane operators days.
We did the point up and down while moving your hand in a circle to indicate raise and lower, but our other hand generally didn't get involved except for the more improvisational, "What the hell do you think you're doing up there?" gesture.
And you haven't lived until you've worked with a radio control bridge crane. Every so often they drop into "what if the Terminator forgot to take his ritalin one morning" mode.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2009
We did the point up and down while moving your hand in a circle to indicate raise and lower, but our other hand generally didn't get involved except for the more improvisational, "What the hell do you think you're doing up there?" gesture.
And you haven't lived until you've worked with a radio control bridge crane. Every so often they drop into "what if the Terminator forgot to take his ritalin one morning" mode.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2009
I used to run cab cranes (not the giant boom cranes that build skyscrapers but the little five- and ten-ton ones that run on tracks and move stuff around inside warehouses).
It's a fun job. You get to sit around watching everyone work, mostly. And if they piss you off, you can drop extremely heavy stuff on them, killing them instantly.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
It's a fun job. You get to sit around watching everyone work, mostly. And if they piss you off, you can drop extremely heavy stuff on them, killing them instantly.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:19 AM on April 14, 2009 [3 favorites]
Hand signals seem hopelessly old fashioned, but there were times when they couldn't be used.
A few years before my stint in construction industry, building a skyscraper often required the use of a hoisting engine in the basement of the building under construction controlled by an operator who was next to the engine. A cable or two ran from the engine to a derrick which was many floors above and not visible to the operator. A device called a "bell box" was used for communications between the foreman at the derrick and the operator in the cellar. The foreman pushed a button on his box which rang a bell on the operator's box. The code was something like one bell to raise, two to stop, etc.
Considering this, the red hot rivets they used to throw around, the lack of safety belts, and the beer for coffee breaks (actually written into the contracts) it's amazing they didn't have more fatalities.
posted by digsrus at 11:43 AM on April 14, 2009
A few years before my stint in construction industry, building a skyscraper often required the use of a hoisting engine in the basement of the building under construction controlled by an operator who was next to the engine. A cable or two ran from the engine to a derrick which was many floors above and not visible to the operator. A device called a "bell box" was used for communications between the foreman at the derrick and the operator in the cellar. The foreman pushed a button on his box which rang a bell on the operator's box. The code was something like one bell to raise, two to stop, etc.
Considering this, the red hot rivets they used to throw around, the lack of safety belts, and the beer for coffee breaks (actually written into the contracts) it's amazing they didn't have more fatalities.
posted by digsrus at 11:43 AM on April 14, 2009
Huh, I didn't know that a tied off half-shirt with exposed cleavage was OSHA compliant. Good to know, though; I'm gonna use this as evidence in my demands that we update our office dress code.
posted by quin at 11:44 AM on April 14, 2009
posted by quin at 11:44 AM on April 14, 2009
What mygothlaundry said. And here I thought the thread was going to be about the use of the "sexy lady" drawing on the crane poster.
Everything, dog! Everything!
posted by jtron at 3:58 PM on April 14, 2009
Everything, dog! Everything!
posted by jtron at 3:58 PM on April 14, 2009
"I didn't know that a tied off half-shirt with exposed cleavage was OSHA compliant. "
For a swamper as long as you've got steel toes, hart hat and high vis vest you are good to go. So as long as the shirt has the built in retro reflective stuff she's OK.
posted by Mitheral at 8:19 PM on April 14, 2009
For a swamper as long as you've got steel toes, hart hat and high vis vest you are good to go. So as long as the shirt has the built in retro reflective stuff she's OK.
posted by Mitheral at 8:19 PM on April 14, 2009
In my experience crance signals are a mixture of common sense and standard signals. Generally the operator does his best to work out what the lift controller is telling him.
In this case though, I every crane operator I know would be trying to do whatever the sexylady wanted.
posted by BadMiker at 7:37 AM on April 15, 2009
In this case though, I every crane operator I know would be trying to do whatever the sexylady wanted.
posted by BadMiker at 7:37 AM on April 15, 2009
Dont be too hard on the girl, at least she is dressed appropriately. There are some girls who wear the strangest things to do the gardening.
posted by BadMiker at 7:44 AM on April 15, 2009
posted by BadMiker at 7:44 AM on April 15, 2009
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posted by box at 9:46 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]