Guy in a hard hat at the Port of Oakland gave me a reality check

I was setting up a 300-ton crawler at the Port of Oakland last Tuesday and this older operator named Dave walks over. He just says 'your tag lines are too loose, that load will swing into the ship if the wind picks up.' He was right, I had them slack because I was in a hurry. Has anyone else had a random guy on site save them from a stupid mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_mitchell14d ago

Aw man, come on. So the guy said your tag lines were loose, big deal. You really think a little breeze is gonna send a 300-ton load swinging into a ship like a pinball? I've seen sloppy rigging that looked way worse and nothing happened. People act like one wrong knot and the whole port's gonna collapse. I'm not saying ignore safety, but sometimes guys just like to sound important by pointing out stuff that ain't gonna happen anyway.

wells.karen14d ago

You ever had a guy on the dock scream at you about a twist in the sling that was barely visible? I just nod and say "roger that" then go back to work. Keeps everyone happy without wasting time arguing about wind speeds.

paul28614d ago

Did you ever read that study about how people in high pressure jobs actually work better when they just let small stuff slide? I remember seeing something about it in a safety journal a few years back, said that constant nitpicking can actually make people less careful because they get worn down from all the useless feedback. Those dock guys with their "barely visible" twists, they're probably just trying to feel important after a long shift of doing nothing much. You're smart to just nod and move on, saves your energy for the real problems that actually could cause trouble.