In cab communication
When you spend most of your day operating heavy equipment, your office is the cab, it's where you are in control, and you know what is happening. However, without good communication lines, it can be a very isolating place as…
Heavy Equipment Training: Do You Need It?
A lot of people who want a career in heavy equipment ask if they need to be trained or if on-the-job training (OJT) is available for heavy equipment operators. The short answer is, yes, heavy equipment operations training would be…
5 Operator Support Jobs
Heavy equipment operators have a difficult job, and sometimes it's as thankless as it is difficult. You could be a mobile crane operator, a rigger/signalperson, a truck driver, or a heavy equipment operator. But who are the people that support…
Things You Learn Besides Operating Equipment
How to operate a variety of heavy equipment is the obvious thing you learn while in heavy equipment school. You'll learn to operate everything from a backhoe to an all-terrain forklift. But that's not all. There are six other things…
Subzero Conditions Affect Heavy Equipment
Much of the country is seeing subzero cold this month. But along with that cold, we are also seeing an increase in accidents because the cold affects both the equipment and the operator. Heavy equipment safety means understanding the difference a drop…
Heavy Equipment Operator Tip: Gravity Always Wins
We hear it from the time we are small: warnings about the possibility of falling when we are in a hurry. When the location is a large piece of heavy equipment, rushing to get on or off always has the…
Tired Operators Are Dangerous People
One of the biggest safety mistakes a heavy equipment operator can make is being overly-fatigued on the job. It doesn't seem like being tired would make much of a difference, but fatigue affects your competency as much as drugs or…
Pay Attention Or Pay The Price
What is the cost of not paying attention to what you are doing? Sometimes that cost isn't much, because you are sitting in a chair at home zoning out during a commercial. But if you are sitting in the driver's…
What Do You Think About Safety?
A factory owner once said that when he investigated workplace accidents, most of the time he was told, "I didn't think it would do that." His response usually was, "that's right, you didn't think!" It's easy to get accustomed to…
The Past, Present, and Future of Safety
Have you ever visited an antique tractor show? Some of them have exhibit barns full of big equipment from the past, and the future of safety come a long way. You'd think there'd still be blood and entrails on some…