Hi All, Here's a question for you all. When do you say I'm not working in the rain? I am working with a bunch of folks that unlike a chicken with a head the size of a quater,... they haven't got the sence to get out of the rain. Rain is one thing,... it's 30 deg's here right now and there calling for a wintery mix all day. Is that really weather to be hanging steel in? I myself think NOT. These folks are renting the crane and operator/me. I think they are just begging to get someone killed. Water, Ice, Steel and multi-story Ironwork, sounds like a pretty deadly mixture to me. I am posting this here, so as to document my opinion and to have it as proof of such opinion. Look foward to your replys.
Are the Iron worker's working out of Manlift's? Are they seasoned Iron worker's? ...because that would explain them continuing to work .. Its their call if they want to go up on the steel ... Its your call to decide wether or not you can hand them the steel in the weather.... What are you using for a crane?
rain and steel I have a buddy who use to work for CN (bridges and structures). They had a square taped off on their truck windshied and a watch with a second hand and if they counted X number of raindrops in the square within X number of seconds it was raining and they didn't go out on the steel. End of discussion, that was the rule. This was 15-20 years ago now, back when the fall arrest equipment was a belt and a rope, but later than if you fell you where off the payroll before you hit the ground.
I have to agree. If you think its unsafe for them to work then your within your rights as a human to say so. BUT its their decision not yours, however much you dont like it. If you think it unsafe to pass them the steel thats your call. I was told a long time ago, ..........There is no lock on the gate!
Well as the guy that MAKES the call not to have my guys hanging iron in the rain. I usually boils down to weather or not i want to be out there doing it. If its raining like hell then NO i don't want my guys out there. IF its a light drizzle just enough to pizz you off i will usually work through it but most days will call it early and send the guys home. Im out here in California i think i can count on one hand the times we have worked in sub 40 deg weather. And not one of those was a rainy day
When the boys come down, it's over. Doesn't matter a whole lot to me.
Allot of our crane jobs are scheduled on a certain day & time when we show up and have to be ready for the load when it arrives.We watch the forcast in advance,But when the day comes, we set up hope the weather cooperates as the truck driver is comming or at least trying to make it on time given the weather conditions.I dont like thunderstorms & lightning.I've offloaded during some thunderstorms and dont like it,but we got it done.Customer was happy,truck driver happy,and td25c happy that we got the load set!We cant controll the weather,only the crane.
That is about how I feel about it. My biggest thing is thunderstorms. If I see or here it or some one else calls it out. I'm done till it clears. Luckily the company's I work for are pretty strict about thunderstorms and wind, either they have set the wind limits are we go with the crane manufacturers info. I have worked in some strong winds before and it puts a knot in my stomach.
Weather and shut downs I concur for the most part however I have been involved with recommending some shutdowns in the past. Mostly for cold more so than rain or sleet. I find some crews will pay close attention to the thermometer but then ignore the wind chill issue. I have to admit though, I haven't shut down yet for the heat!
I've worked places that the first clap of thunder .... DONE..... Others it's not in the area yet.. Some that won't go one the iron until the DEW is off..... For the most part all that I've been around quit hanging iron... in the rain Now with all the lifts .... they work in just about all weather that's not extreme... like downpours and blizzards...
Well,... td25c sometimes our actions speak alot louder than our words and wisdom. I have been in a crane when it got hit by lightning,..... it will never happen again. Trust me it's loud, the big blue fireball comes down the pendant lines and it has a tendancy to make you need new shorts right away!! If I see lightning I shut down period. There is no part of any load or job that is worth killing someone. It only has to hit one time and anybody near the crane or load,... is dead or would rather be that way from that point on. If you do this on a regular basis you are begging for a court appearance. What are you going to tell the wife and kids of the guy that got killed because YOU decided the lightning won't hit us? Don't take this the wrong way, I do know it slips up on you from time to time as that is what happened when it hit me. I can tell you right now though,... one time will ween you of that and make you wish you had takin "control of the crane" before starting to work in a thunderstorm. Where there is thunder,... there IS lightning. No part of of a truck drivers happiness, a customers happiness or anybodys happiness is worth getting a man killed. There is no glory in that.
static dissipation The is lots of talk in the boating world about lighting strikes and a lot of boats have static dissipation devices at the mast head. Looks likes a chimmey sweep brush, lots surface area, and must be well connected electrically to the ships bonding system. I guess this would be equivilent to grounding your crane, but with a device to help prevent the build up a potential difference. Anybody ever try to sell something like this to the crane industy? by the way: how often do cranes get hit by lighting? seems to me the a lattice boom would naturally disapate static build up, crawlers would be fairly well grounded just sitting there, but one would want to ground a AT or RT
Tesla invented the Lighting Go-away Rod you described. I have played a bit in the "wacko-energy" field, (you know, experimenting with types of energy that "don't exist") and a friend was running a Tesla-based experiment and shut it off for the day. A little while later lighting struck the house, through the roof, and through the workbench. Winged him pretty bad too. He learned to always shut down that equipment smoothly to avoid disrupting everything, and to do it in metal buildings with lighting dissipaters! Oh ya, my point was going to be that common lighting rods with points actually act like a needle into a balloon. They concentrate the potential making it more likely that lighting will be drawn there and strike that exact point. What Tesla did was make something that looked like an umbrella frame. It provided a place for lighting to hit, but it also allowed the charges to bleed off and equalize. Google: Tesla lighting rod patent would probably turn it up.