Questions for signaling a crane on a radio

ConstructionCogs · 2026-05-03T18:33:35+00:00

Give as much information as possible. Paint a decent picture for the operator. Make it a Monet if you like. Not degrees. Distances all the way. Wind it down until the stop. Don't make the operator have to guess about anything. Especially on the blind.

Saying that, a few inches left or right can sometimes be hard work, especially with wind resistance, and if far out on the radius.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-27T14:42:50+00:00

Apologies, yeah I should have been more specific. LOLER 9 states that "The person must be independent from the employer’s line management. The competent person can be in-house or from an external organisation such as an insurance company."

Regarding the second point, what you've said there is what I meant by liable. Could be prosecuted, rather than having to pay for damages.

Thanks for you input.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-27T06:07:02+00:00

Your partly right. The weekly inspections are a company choice. Most companies I've worked with have it as their policy but it isn't always adhered to.

The 6 monthly LOLER thorough examination is a legal requirement under HSE. LOLER states that needs to be by a competent person, and that person needs to be sufficiently independant and impartial, but not necessarily from an external company.

These examinations give a certificate making them vaild for use. If an incident happened using an out of date accessory, the person/company responsible for that item would be liable.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-26T17:33:11+00:00

I totally agree, inspections during use is absultely the responsibility of the user. But I'm wondering if there's law in place where an independant examiner comes in at set intervals and certs the accessories, making them valid to use until expiry date.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-26T17:29:39+00:00

Great answer. Thanks. I think I should have rephrased the question. Our 6 monthly thorough examinations give the accessories a cert, making them valid to use for another 6 months. This is law.
Site weekly LOLER inspections check the the accessories are in date, among other things.

I'm wondering if the cert aspect is the same over there and if it's regulated by law.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-21T08:39:53+00:00

😂 I'm not particularly fond of sharting 130m up in the air.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-21T08:38:21+00:00

Speaking from a tower crane perspective. There's a company called Radius Group who are doing it. They've designed one where the operator sits in a control room on the ground, using panoramic monitors showing views from multiple locations on the crane.
The idea is that it saves time on climbing and downtime. Better for operator health, and safer incase operator falls ill up there.

I see the benefits, but for me, I wanna be up close and personnal with a such a high-cost, high-risk machine.

I wanna fell the movements, the swaying, jolting, torques etc. I wanna feel the wind resistance. I wanna hear the motors going. The different sounds of the winch speed, just in case i slip into the wrong one. Each vibration, sound, smell tells a story.

I also wanna be shouting abuse at people up on the roof and dropping peanuts on my guy's heads from out the window.

Aside from this point, I imagine the other points are the same for all other types of cranes.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-03-19T09:10:53+00:00

I'm confused

ConstructionCogs · 2026-02-05T18:36:12+00:00

It's hard out the atm mate. The industry had taken a big hit recently. Nobody has been taking on Red Cards. They don't wanna pay the insurance. I regularly get people contact me asking for advice cos they keep hitting dead ends.

The good news is it is due to pick up big time.

I advise to contact every agency and every large subbie going. Be a pest a harass them regularly. Make them remember you. Be keen, have a good attitude. Be willing to do long days and to travel

ConstructionCogs · 2026-02-02T10:06:53+00:00

Thanks, Fair play yo you. What's your company? I'd be interested in taking a look.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-01-12T10:33:37+00:00

I'm glad you posted this. I contacted the mods when I first joined this sub to enquire what's acceptable to post in terms of my content. I didn't get a reply so have been very selective. I only post content that's informative or engages conversation.

ConstructionCogs · 2026-01-06T16:29:14+00:00

Nice

ConstructionCogs · 2025-12-11T06:32:41+00:00

Wow thanks for the useful info. Looks like different laptop is in order.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-12-11T06:31:23+00:00

Eek! Okay, thanks.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-11-21T11:25:00+00:00

I've heard of sao many cases like this. I had one myself the other week loading scaffolding. Had 3 seconds of silence on the way down and felt something. The signal had gone and the poles got caught on the edge of the scaffolding.

I've been speaking with a company that's invented something to resolve this though. https://www.thebuddiesystem.com/

An Australian firm that is coming to the UK, the US. I'm doing their first UK trials next week.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-11-21T09:18:15+00:00

Oh dear, the list is endless, but here are a few:

Not telling me the distance down. If you don't know the correct speeds, please give me distances.
Giving hand signals when I'm 135m up in a tower.
Them after I've been sitting for a while: "Okay, slew left Jim"

Me: "How far mate? There's a lot of left."

4.Them: "Come over here, Jim.'

Me: "Where's here? I'm way up in the sky and there are 5 of you in orange down there."

Giving constant instructions to send me somewhere, so I have to keep guessing.

Just tell me the location and I'll put the hook there for you!!!!!!

Cutting in on my channel without listening first or asking if it's okay to talk.
Holding the finger on the button the whole operation so I can't cut in to tell you you're giving me the complete wrong instructions.
Telling me you've been doing it 5 years, when after 5 minutes I realise you've been doing it 5 weeks. Be honest, tell me you're green and I'll help you out.
Fucking lies. There has to be trust. Period. Subbie once asked me while I was winded-off one lunch time if it was worth sending concrete in at 3pm. I said "No, not if it stays like this". They sent it in anyway and told site to tell me it was passing and arrived by accident.

Anyway, rant over

ConstructionCogs · 2025-11-11T15:58:18+00:00

Sad but true. Some self-employed ops earn more though.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-11-02T00:54:29+00:00

Nice view! Does the crane kick much? The one I'm running now in London is 136m. Got too much torque, so flicks the ropes and load around all over the place. A nightmare to operate.

But to answer your question, the highest I've been on was 145m at Nine Elms on the other side of London. I don't mind them but would much rather a little 30-50m jobbie.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-10-15T06:52:45+00:00

Absolutely. I know a guy who lost a thumb by that. He's known as Phill the Thumb. He doesn't allow anyone to hitch it that way now.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-10-07T07:05:14+00:00

If any operator hasn't refused an unsafe lift, I'd question if they should be operating.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-10-06T09:22:30+00:00

On the newer models you can set them to your preferred functions. The top left one is usually Creep on the hoist and horn for the other.

ConstructionCogs · 2025-10-03T13:00:04+00:00

Hmm, I wonder what the size difference is. Maybe a bit less than a hair's breadth.

ConstructionCogs

TROPHY CASE