When you mentioned they were working in fog then I thought they were relying on vision alone to direct cranes as I did 30 years ago in the UK.
If they are using two-ways then you would not really need three spotters or dogmen as we call them here in Australia.
I moved to Australia in 1975 and every tower crane I have operated here we have used two or three licenced dogmen with radios per crane.
On my recent job we were using inferior CB two-ways and it was very frightening to use as all types of people were on the same channels interrupting the dogman’s directions. Lorry drivers, fishermen, nutcases all cut in on the radio. My boss would not get the good radios, which caused a lot more stress for an already stressful job.
In Australia, a lot of changes have been made by the government in regards to pay, safety and other conditions on building sites and we seem to be going backwards in regard to workers’ safety.
I have operated lots of types of tower cranes in my working life and have found that nothing beats the original Favco Tower Crane for sheer speed,strength and reliability in the construction industry.
Keep up the good work.
Phil Slow
ED: In fact they were using radios, writes author Jonathan Robson:
“It is too far to shout! They didn’t give a reason for not using video but I would guess it is because labour is cheap compared to video systems – and more mobile, too. This photo shows the spotter directing the hoist by radio inside the building. He is standing below the hook.”
Spotter on Shanghai World Financial Centre Spotter on Shanghai World Financial Centre
