Estimating a load’s approximate weight is always an important part of any rigger’s checklist and must be done before choosing the rigging system. Have some fun and estimate the weight of the half …

The International Sign Association has added a Mobile Crane Operator Safety Certification Training class in Altoona, Pa. ISA also has partnered with The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), which has agreed to administer tests the day following the completion of training. The tests will be held in the same location as the training. ISA will conduct the Altoona course May 25-28 and one in Pittsburgh April 20-23. Dozens of other courses will take place around the country throughout the year. Visit www.signs.org/cranetraining for the full 2011 crane-training schedule.

Estimating a load’s approximate weight is always an important part of any rigger’s checklist and must be done before choosing the rigging system.
Have some fun and estimate the weight of the storage tank …

Perth- Australia, a court has fined two directors of D&G Cranes $45,000 each and the company $90,000 for a fatal accident in 2007. D&G Hoists & Cranes, operations director David Keating and Luigi Vincenzo Decesare, managing director, were found guilty in December of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace, which caused the death of Luke Murrie, 22, after he was struck in the head by a 375kg tower crane section.

With four quick lifts, raising the load only a few inches, a rigger can confirm:
a) The load’s estimated weight
b) The load’s approximate center-of-gravity (CG)
c) The approximate load at each pick point
Find the approximate weight and …

This brain teaser is part of Mike’s Rigging Mysteries available through the  iti.com/bookstore.
Enjoy! Check your answers below.
Match the 10 questions below with the correct answers, A-J.

____ What has 2 legs, 2 ears and a bow?
____ …

A reader from the USA has sent us an example of what some riggers will get up to when the right equipment is not to hand. We don’t have the full details of where this happened, probably for good reason thought, on a large site two riggers were connecting up what looks like some kind of pile puller and other heavy attachments and having no purpose, made a sling, they decided to use a length of old cable in multiple wraps with the ends clamped.

The UK Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has warned that employers must periodically examine lifting equipment. The announcement comes following two accidents, one of which was fatal. It should encourage revised training and equipment testing practices for manual hoists and slings.

Following a complaint, RCMP are looking for Paddy Gene Doherty, a man who is alleged to have conducted inspection of machinery at about 27 businesses throughout the Kootenies. Doherty faces 49 charges of fraud and uttering a forged document.

This story is about looking at your crane daily. Just because a building is built up around you, doesn’t mean that things can’t go wrong with the crane below. Don’t be lazy, look at the whole thing. A Liebherr 420 in Hawaii, just a few years ago, had an entire pin set (pin and sleeve) back out of it’s hole at the base of the crane.