Changed my mind on NOT using a spotter for blind picks after a close call in Houston
Honestly 3 years ago I would have told you a spotter on a routine blind pick was a waste of a guy's time. I ran a 90 ton for a steel erection outfit out of Houston and we did picks behind walls all day, I knew my load chart and my swing radius and I figured the radio chatter just slowed us down. Then about a month ago we were setting a 4,200 lb beam on a job off I-10 and I could not see the tagline man at all, just heard him say "a little more" and I kept booming up. Turns out he meant swing, not boom, and the load came within maybe 6 inches of clipping the edge of a parapet wall. Nothing fell, nobody got hurt, but my hands were shaking on the levers after. I shut the machine down and walked the pick with him hand signals instead of the radio for the rest of the shift. Now I want a guy with eyes on the load every single pick, no exceptions, even if it costs us 20 minutes. Any of you run a strict spotter rule on your crew, and how do you sell it to the super who wants to move faster?