Pro tip: Adding hand signals to my radio routine stopped lift confusion

On loud sites, my voice commands over the radio sometimes got lost in the noise. I began using clear hand signals for every crane movement, and now the crew follows directions without a hitch. How do you keep communications crisp when the environment gets chaotic?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.drew1mo ago

At the Phoenix site in July, our crew handled two cranes with just radios in 110-decibel noise. We never lost a command or had a safety incident. Hand signals seem like extra work for something that isn't broken. Most operators I know can hear fine through good headsets. If your comms are failing, maybe check your gear before adding more steps. It feels like fixing a problem that isn't really there on most jobs.

jade_webb721mo ago

Ever seen what happens when radio static cuts in at the wrong moment? My buddy worked a job where they only used radios, just like your Phoenix site. One afternoon, the operator's headset filled with sudden noise and he missed a stop command. The load swung way too close to a guy on the ground, everyone froze. They got lucky that time, but now his crew always uses hand signals as a backup. Relying only on gear seems fine until it isn't, and that split-second mix-up is all it takes.

white.blair1mo ago

Totally get that, I've had tools fail right when I need them most too. Why risk a whole operation on one piece of gear when a simple backup could save everything?