Harbor cranes, no room for error

Until very recently, a crane operator’s job was often slow, tedious, and quite dangerous due to the number of blind lifts that he was required to make. Although the crane operator can usually see a great bit of the job site from his seat high up in the crane’s cab, there are always many spots where he cannot see. It is these areas that cause the lift to be dangerous for the crane operator, as well as for the cargo, equipment, and people below. Although it would seem that the entire job site is viewable from the cab of the crane, there are many areas that the operator simply cannot see. Ironically, these areas are often directly in the path of the lift that an operator must make.

Before the invention of Hoistcam’s cameras on cranes, the only way that a crane operator could know what was happening in these blind spots was by communication with the riggers below. This communication was made using a series of hand signals at first, and then over time, radios were used as well. Both of these methods could be tedious, and left a great deal of room for error. Unfortunately, just one miscommunication could have catastrophic results. If the crane operator failed to understand a signal that the riggers was giving, or if the rigger accidentally sent the wrong signal, a load could be dropped in the wrong place, or slammed into equipment, machinery, or even people. Even if no one was injured in such an accident, the cost of any damaged machinery, equipment, and the load could be quite high. There was also a great deal of time lost while reloading the cargo and starting again with the lift.

Fortunately, HoistCam has a solution to these issues with their cameras on cranes. In fact, some studies show that cameras on cranes can increase the speed of the lift by as much as twenty-seven percent in areas where the crane operator is not blind! In places where a blind lift is required, cameras on cranes can increase the speed of the lift by as much as thirty-nine percent. How does this work? A HoistCam camera is attached to the crane or in different areas of the job site, according to the position that the crane operator needs. Moving these cameras is easy since they are attached with magnets and safety lanyard.

Once the camera is in place, the feed from the camera’s viewpoint is fed to a monitor that sits in the cab of the crane with the crane operator. Now, instead of having to communicate to the riggers below with hand signals and radio chats, the crane operator can simply glance at a screen and see exactly where the cargo is. He can tell with one look if there are any obstructions in the path of the lift. He can also watch as the rigger secures the load, making sure that no steps are missed and that the load is secured adequately. The crane operator can also see clearly when the rigger gives the signal that the load is ready. It is easy to see how this process is much faster – a simple glance at a monitor versus waiting for hand signals and then sending them back – for each step of the process. HoistCam’s cameras on cranes can increase the speed of the lift, making the job much faster and easier for both operators and riggers.