We provide training and practical testing for individuals seeking certification in mobile crane operations. The certifying entity we use is the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (CCO). The CCO has many certifications for mobile cranes, they include the following:

• Fixed Cab (TSS) Swing Cab (TLL)
• Lattice Boom Truck (LBT) Lattice Boom Crawler (LBC)
• Articulated Boom (ABC)

Anyone can put a sling on a hook and “poof” you’re a rigger. Ever heard of basic hitches? Know the difference between horizontal and vertical angles? Did you know a sling can be overloaded and break while hoisting only a fraction of it’s working load limit? When we conduct a rigging class, we ask you questions. What do you pick up? What type of rigging do you use? Have you had training in the past?

We do this to ensure we are teaching you what you need to know. Not just what we want to teach you. OSHA has inspection rules but very little use. This is because you’re supposed to be qualified to rig a load. In fact, it is mandated in the construction law that all rigging is done by a qualified rigger. What makes you qualified? In the simplest of terms, you must know what you’re doing. I find only too often people have been overloading rigging without even knowing it. Then when the rigging fails, they are hurt, end up hurting someone else and the company fires or punishes them in some way. We don’t know what we don’t know because well we don’t know it.

Rigging can be an art, or it can be a minimal task as part of your trade. I don’t run into a lot of riggers. I run into a lot of people that have other titles that rig. Some look at a shackle as nothing more than a tool. That OK it is a tool, but you don’t use a $900.00 torque wrench as a hammer, do you? Why would you do that with a shackle? All rigging hardware needs to be used correctly, inspected correctly, stored correctly and when necessary preplaced correctly. We teach types, capacities, storage, proper use so you can make an informed decision if you’re even using the right rigging for your task. You don’t want to use chain slings around glass or even wire rope around high power lines. All these things and more are taught. One cannot just know stuff.

Rigging is a complex art. Many overlook its importance because we all know how a hook works. Take a sling eye and put it in a hook and lift the load. How hard can that be? What does the load weigh? What is the capacity of the sling? What is the capacity of the hook? How do you tell if any of the items are defective? That’s where we help. Understand not just what OSHA says but way, more importantly, is why! The “WHY” cannot be stressed enough. If you ever heard someone say “Pick it up slow let’s see what happens” they were being honest. The why is knowing when you pick the load it is going to do exactly what you want. To accomplish this, we offer a wide range of rigging classes.

The signal person has a huge amount of responsibility. This is the person that is the eyes and ears of the crane operator. This is so important OSHA mandated when a signal person is required. We teach both verbal and nonverbal communication for mobile, overhead and tower cranes.

Anyone can rent one of these units from any hardware store. Someone with reasonable mechanical ability will be able to make it move. But then what? We teach proper operations as well as emergency procedures. Have you heard the story of the guy shimmying down the boom? Maybe if it happened and he knew the emergency lowering procedure, he wouldn’t have had to do that.

We teach standard warehouse type forklifts and construction style. We cover the technical language as well as practical hands on. Our instructors are heavy equipment operators. We can show you the proper operations of these machines because of years of experience. You will learn some things out of a book. You will also learn some things in the field.

Our owner is a certified mobile crane inspector with over 30 years of experience in the crane and rigging field. We offer comprehensive inspections up to the latest OSHA and ASME standards. We know what to look for because of our extensive field experience. Want to know what we know? Attend an inspector training program.

What cheap insurance it is to have subject matter experts look at your rigging and fall protection equipment. We provide visual inspections of your equipment, create an inventory and identify all serviceable equipment with a unique logo and color-coded zip ties. All defective equipment is set aside, and recommendations are given for repair or replacement. Recommendations can include training or different rigging items.

To assist safety and training professionals we offer onsite material handling audits. We can go as in depth as you like. During an audit we can conduct interviews with operators, riggers and signalmen. We can verify training records and make in the field observations. The audit does not have to be a negative. If things are going well, we will tell you as such. We aren’t there to justify our existence by finding something wrong.

These programs can be part of your safety program or training program or a stand-alone program. We research what you do and how you do it and look for improvements. This can include management training, field training or coaching. The programs are completely moldable to your exact needs. We don’t try to shove you into a box that is not you. We create each program for each unique customer.

We use several local engineers to assist you in creating or certifying your lifting gear. We proof test items to strict specifications to ensure they don’t fail. We have freely suspended weights and strain testing.

While we do everything we can to prevent accidents, they do happen. We have assisted in accident investigations identifying root causes to help prevent future accidents. We have also been asked to assist in litigation. We are not hired guns. We are very particular about the cases we assist in. We must believe in the case, and believe we are on the right side.

Do you have a crane and rigging policy? Do you just say, “We follow OSHA guidelines?” Is that enough for your industry? We can create a policy for you and your company, we can assist with your existing policy and then create training programs for that policy. The policy doesn’t do any good if no one knows what it is. It is also far easier to hold someone accountable to a standard once they have been educated in the policy.

We have qualification programs for Backhoe operators, Excavator Operators, Frontend Loader Operators, and Skid Steer Operators. You have heard more than once “Of course I can run that” only to find the operator has no idea how to operate the machine. How much downtime does that cost? Let us help train or evaluate your operators. This improves both production and safety.