2018 Crane & Rigging Workshop set for Louisville

The 2018 SC&RA Crane & Rigging Workshop is set for September 26-28, at the Louisville Marriott Downtown in Louisville, KY. The Workshop is the crane and rigging event of the year – bringing together owners, operators, safety directors and operations managers from the industry’s foremost manufacturers and companies. Workshop sessions have an emphasis on safety, regulatory and consensus standards, training, equipment maintenance, as well as current issues affecting the industry.

In addition to numerous networking opportunities, the Exhibit Center, with over 90 booths, has sold out each of the last 15 years. With no conflicting sessions or distractions, the Exhibit Center is the best place for Workshop-goers to meet and make new contacts quickly and easily.

Recognizing pitfalls

One universal concern almost everyone in attendance will agree on is the persistent nature of litigation throughout the marketplace. All the more reason for attendees to sit in on Bill Smith’s presentation “Practical Ways to Protect Your Company from Lawsuits.”

Recognizing that the new lottery of today is the lawsuit, Smith, executive vice president of claims and risk management for NBIS, will share with audience members practical ways to protect and defend themselves in the event of a suit filed against their company or employees.

Similarly underscoring the importance of knowing the “rules of the game,” Steven Todd, SC&RA vice president of transportation, will articulate how one permitting mistake could cost a company millions of dollars, in his session “Mobile Cranes on the Move: Using New OS/OW Rules to Your Advantage.”

A former state department of transportation official, Todd will explain how to take advantage of a recent federal government ruling on mobile cranes to maximize time and budget. All aspects of securing permits and working with law enforcement and government officials will be covered.

While Todd inspects costly mistakes, Jim Wiethorn, PhD., P.E., Haag Engineering, and Fernanda Leite, PhD, P.E., associate professor of the University of Texas, will examine what contributes to accidents in the presentation, “The Hazards of Service Providers.”

Wiethorn and Leite will point to recent research that suggests a lack of safety talks, pre-lift meetings and miscommunication between service providers (crane rental firms) and the client – including what those in attendance can do to reduce risk of accidents.

And what good discussion on rules and pitfalls is complete without advice from a lawyer? Michael Rubin, partner attorney, Goldberg Segalla, will walk Workshop-goers through how to take control of their company’s compliance by knowing their rights and responsibilities during his session “An Attorney’s Point of View: Playing Offense with OSHA.”

Staying compliant

Using SC&RA’s new Severe Weather Guidelines as an example, Troy Pierce, vice president, Health Safety and Enviromental of TNT Crane & Rigging, will explain best practices for managers who want to introduce new practices and rules to employees in his presentation “Bridging the Gap Between Compliance and Choice.”

Complementing Pierce, Patrick Clark, national rental support manager for Lifting Gear Hire, and Tom Beasley, business support manager for Lifting Gear Hire, will ask their audience if their companies are organized and compliant when it comes to tooling operations. During their presentation – “Tackle Any Job with Better Tool Management” – Clark and Beasley will show attendees how to discover their options in inventory management, inspection recording and other tools so that their teams can be compliant (ASME B30 standards and OSHA 1910) and efficient.

Crucial calculations

Application is the name of the game when Brooks Nunley, technical sales and key account manager for Cortland Company, and Dennis Sherman, technical sales manager of cranes for Sampson Rope, take the stage to present “How to Successfully Use Synthetics.”

The duo will address the question: What are the effects of bending on synthetic fiber ropes and slings, and how do they differ from steel wire and round slings?

Staying on theme, Sam Socolow, product application and training manager for Ashley Sling, will educate the audience on how to calculate reduction and tension factors and the effects of angular loading on hardware in “Calculating Sling Angles and Hardware Selection.”

Jamison Fox, P.E., International Industrial Contracting Corporation, will guide attendees through the elements of preparing an engineered lift plan in “Engineered Lift Plans From A to Z.”

In addition to two evening receptions and a First Timers’ Briefing, the Workshop will also shine a deserving light on the 2018 Rigging Job of the Year Winners – representing the four best projects in their categories for exemplifying safety practices, ingenuity and specialized engineering.