Caught a safety guy on a job site saying something that stuck with me

I was on a site in Houston last Tuesday, and this old safety inspector (like 30 years in the game) was talking to a new operator about hand signals. He said something like 'you can know every hand signal in the book, but if you don't watch the person giving them, you're just guessing.' It hit me how much I zone out on the ground guy sometimes, especially on long shifts. Has anyone else caught themselves getting lazy on communication and had a close call because of it?

2 comments

2 Comments

irismartinez25d ago

Is it really that deep though? I mean, yeah, watching the guy on the ground is important, but the whole point of hand signals is that they're standardized so you don't have to stare at someone every second. If you know the signals cold, it's not like you're gonna randomly drop a load because you glanced at your gauges for a second. Long shifts make everyone a little spacey, but I feel like this is more about basic alertness than some huge communication breakthrough. Maybe it's just me, but I've never had a close call where the problem was that I didn't watch the signal guy, it was usually something else like equipment lag or a misread radio call.

the_thomas25d ago

Hand signals are standardized for a reason, but the standard only works if someone is actually looking at them. That glance at your gauges might only be a second, but a lot can happen in that second on a busy site. Equipment lag and radio issues are real problems, no argument there, but they don't cancel out the need to keep your eyes on the signaler. The signal guy is the one who can see the blind spots you can't from the cab. It's less about being paranoid and more about covering your bases, because one missed signal can mess up your whole day.