If in your opinion a lift you are about to make is unsafe, do the following:

Go talk to the person in charge of the lift. If at all possible, catch them in front of witnesses when you confront them. Express your concerns about the safety of the lift in a nice but firm manner. If the lift is out of the chart, tell them so. Remember, you have more than your job on the line by refusing to make a lift you feel is unsafe. It may be a matter of life or death for someone. If the person in charge persists in their demands and you are not in a position to walk off of the job, there are some tactics you may want to consider using.

1. As soon as you get back on your crane, make dated notes in your log book (What! You don't have a log book.) of the conversation and list the witnesses who heard you make the protest. Note, if this happens to be a power line incident, sometimes the crane will be burned along with your log book. There are other times when the log book may mysteriously disappear, after an accident. I'm sure you get the drift without further elaboration.

2. If you have a cell phone on the crane, (many operators now do) stop all crane activity and use it to call your answering machine, your local union representative, friend, or anyone you care to call to express your concerns about the lift. No, a phone call will not prevent an accident, but if one does happen, you have, to a limited degree, covered your rear. Remember, the final call is the operator's call, therein lies responsibility and liability. Caution: Never use a cell phone while operating any type of equipment.

If time and circumstances allow, I suggest doing step #1 and as a backup to step #1, do step #2. Hey, if the pressure is on to get going with the lift, poke your cell phone in your pocket and head for the Port-A-Potty. Make your call from there. A few delay tactics may give the Lift Supervisor enough time to evaluate things and reconsider the lift from your perspective.

3. If cameras are allowed on the project, photos may be in order. Get a few shots of how things looked before the lift. If the crane is sitting on rotten mats, get photos of the mats. If the load to be lifted is not properly rigged, get photos of it. In other words, cover your rear!

Since you are being threatened with the possibility of losing your job for refusing to make what you perceive is an unsafe lift, a little intimidation should be in order.

Hang a warning sign on the crane and get a photo of it. WARNING! This lift is questionable, stand clear. Be prepared, make yourself a sign now. One never knows when it may be needed. If you don't think there are any unqualified people out there making the calls, take a look around on this site.

Here is a typical example of how things can sometimes go wrong. In this case, the crane operator had concerns about making the lift and had expressed his concerns to project management. One objection was because the crane was sitting on timber support mats that were rotten. The following photo shows what happened as a result of his mistake of going against his better judgement. As a result, his decision to continue operating the crane under questionable conditions almost caused Laura Cuthbert's death. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The operator's New York state crane operator's license was suspended for two years. Accident photo. See story here

More later...