By Lucy Perry, Editor, Crane & Rigging Hotline
It occurred to me, as I recently spent time with four generations of my family, that learning never stops. At the ripe old age of one, my great-nephew is just learning what it means to toss a ball, while my 85-years-young mother learns a new word or phrase every time she's stumped over her daily New York Times crossword puzzle. Curious to see how she did, she checks her results the next day before launching into a new blank grid.
Curiosity makes a good student even better. Sitting in the keynote session of the Association of Crane & Rigging Professionals general assembly in San Antonio last month, I learned from safety consultant Sam Scribe that safety, defined as the absence of risk, should be obvious, but people have differing levels of how they define risk. Risk management must be taught to crane and rigging crews, and in teaching it, crane trainers have to look beyond just participation and work on getting commitment from their students. Good trainers are able to do that.
Have you noticed how passionate good trainers are about the concepts they are trying to convey? You can see in their eyes how much they want their students to understand what they are trying to communicate. Is there someone you know whose passion for bettering the crane and rigging industry through training just deserves to be recognized?
The whole industry can learn from your favorite trainer and share in your recognition when you nominate a trainer through Crane & Rigging Hot Line's Top Trainer program. In addition to announcing our sixth annual award program, we are once again happy to carry the endorsement of the Association of Crane & Rigging Professionals. Who better to share in our enthusiasm for talented trainers than an organization that strives to educate and inform the industry so we all go home safely at the end of our day?
You can nominate your favorite training authority in one of two categories, corporate or professional, for having a positive impact on students, the work environment, or the industry. It is a wonderful way to show your appreciation for a trainer who has brought you further along in your career, a vendor who has helped you to keep your crew safer on the jobsite, or even an employee who has improved your in-house training program by leaps and bounds.
To recognize someone in the industry, go to our website, and click on the Top Trainer program logo to find a downloadable nomination form. Nominations are being accepted through August 31, 2013. When you do make your nomination, please give it some thought and offer as much supporting information as possible — including attaboys from the trainer's students or customers, if applicable.
Crane and rigging work is picking up all across North America this summer. Let's keep it safe out there and take a moment to remember the people who make sure we know how to manage the risk involved in tossing that ball, finishing that crossword puzzle, or rigging that crane the safe way.
As Scribe the safety consultant says, getting home at the end of the day is a goal. How we accomplish that is strategy.
Source: Crane & Rigging Hotline Magazine, June 2013 Issue.
