The conference itself was great: top speakers and good debate among an interesting cross-section of the region’s lifting industry. See what you missed on www.cranestodaymagazine.com/mec2008papers. We are planning another in February 2009. I hope to see you there.

During pre-show build-up, I needed to hang a long cloth banner in the exhibition hall from hooks in the 6m-high ceiling. No problem for the editor of Cranes Today, right? Wrong.

We were five guys, and had a manlift, some rope, and at least five ideas how to do the job. We knew that the banner would sag in the middle if we just hung it up from the corners. The banner was rolled into a loop at top and bottom, so we found some rigging poles from the hotel and stuck them into the top loop from either side. But they weren’t long enough. We centred one pole in top and bottom; it looked awful. Someone had the bright idea of sticking two poles in, overlapping, but then the top loop in the banner bulged, and we couldn’t get the ends sticking out to be an even length. Back to no poles. If we could get the ropes short enough in the corners, then they might pull the banner tight in the middle. We hung one side, and then the other, in this manner: but then one side was longer than the other, so the banner hung off-centre in the room. After a few more attempts we finished. And I was finished too.

This was how not to rig. It was the worst kind of trial-and-error. I had no plan; there was no toolbox talk. We weren’t thinking more than one step ahead, and did not consider the risks.

If I assume that these riggers were representative of migrant workers, then this episode indicates what issues lifting operations face in the region. First, I worked with a great group of guys, who were willing to do everything to help. To a fault; they seemed unaware of risks to themselves. Second, although they spoke the de facto language of Dubai, English, they were Asians, and their English was not great. Third, they did not organise themselves into a cohesive team; they did not manage themselves. But then I don’t think that they knew each other.

The Dubai construction market pulls skilled talent from the west, and available labour from the east. Safe and efficient lifting depends on the connection between these two different pools of talent. Otherwise this sad little drama will be re-enacted many times.