Overheard a site supervisor say 'just eyeball it' to a new guy yesterday

I was grabbing my harness from the truck and caught this conversation. Supervisor tells the rookie, 'just eyeball the load radius, close enough is fine.' My jaw dropped. I've been running a Grove RT540E for 8 years now and that's how accidents happen. Close enough on a 20 ton pick can mean a tip over or a swing into something. I pulled the kid aside later and showed him the load chart on the cab door. Has anyone else had to correct bad training from a lead who should know better?

3 comments

3 Comments

lindag3326d ago

My buddy Mike once had a foreman tell him to "guesstimate" the crane's outrigger level.

violar3525d ago

Can't believe someone would risk a crane tipping like that, @joel_clark37 totally nailed how that stuff can go wrong.

joel_clark3725d ago

Remembered this one time at a job site, we had a guy who thought he could eyeball the level on a concrete form for a foundation. Foreman told him the same thing, "just guesstimate it, it'll be fine." Well, that foundation ended up sloping like a skate ramp. Had to tear it all out and start over. Cost us three extra days and a lot of money. Never trust a guesstimate with anything that needs to hold a building up.