Guy on a jobsite in Pittsburgh told me my hand signals were sloppy back in 2019

I was working a tower crane gig near the Strip District, setting steel for a new parking garage. This old ironworker, must have been 60 plus years in the trade, walks up during a coffee break and just says 'your left-right cues are too fast, nobody can keep up'. I was pretty annoyed at first (you know, because you think you're doing fine). But I watched him signal the next pick and he was dead slow and deliberate, like each move had its own beat. So I tried slowing down my arm and hand movements that same afternoon, using a longer pause between each cue. And it stuck with me because the rest of the crew started nodding and giving fewer screw-ups on the load. Has anyone else had a random veteran operator call them out on something small that actually made a difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim23d ago

Slowing down the cues like that is something a lot of younger guys never learn... they think speed equals skill. But that deliberate pacing he showed you, it's the same thing I've seen with guys who've been running a crane for decades. It's almost like counting out a rhythm in your head, and once you find that rhythm, everything else just falls into place for the whole gang below.

the_mia23d ago

A foreman out in Robinson Township once told me my tagline pulls looked like I was swatting bees. Took me a minute to realize he was right, I was all jerky little motions instead of smooth, steady pulls. Ever since then I pretend every load is a bucket of paint I don't want to spill, works way better than my old flailing technique.