A safety inspector in Galveston told me 'the load chart is a suggestion, not a law' and it still bothers me

I was running a 90-ton mobile on a port project about six months ago, lifting some pre-cast concrete barriers. The lift was within my chart, but just barely, with the boom at a tough angle. The site safety guy, a real old hand, watched me set up and said that line. He argued that with the right feel and a calm day, you could safely push past the chart's limits by maybe five percent. I stuck to the book and made the lift as planned, but his comment stuck with me. On one hand, I get that experience gives you a sense the paper doesn't show. On the other, those charts are there for a reason, calculated with margins for a bad day or a sudden gust. It felt like he was calling careful work timid. Has anyone else had a veteran push back on strict chart use, and how did you handle it?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylorellis20d ago

Ever wonder if that "five percent" is the same margin the chart already ate up for human error?

torres.grant20d ago

Wait, they're double counting the error margin?

patricialee20d ago

My math skills are so bad I would probably double count my own fingers. It's the kind of mistake I would totally make. No wonder these charts confuse me.