-1

Changed my mind about using tag lines for every lift

I used to think tag lines were just extra hassle on smaller jobs. Then last month on a site in Phoenix, I watched a guy drop a steel beam because the wind caught it and he had no control. OSHA came in and shut us down for two days. After that, I started using tag lines on everything over 500 pounds. Has anyone else had a close call that made you switch up your routine?

3 comments

3 Comments

violag809d ago

popped my rotator cuff" - man, that phrase makes me cringe just reading it. I know a couple guys who had that happen and they said the pain was worse than breaking a bone. So here's what I'm wondering - did you have any warning signs before that happened, like your shoulder feeling tight or worn down from all the muscling? Or did it just go all at once in that one gust and you had no idea it was coming? I'm asking because I think a lot of us (myself included) tend to ignore those little aches until it's too late, you know? Seems like the body gives us hints but we just push through because the job has to get done.

charles7209d ago

That's exactly what happened to me but with a different outcome. I was stubborn about tag lines for years, figured I had good hands and could muscle anything into place. Then I had a 400 pound duct section swing on me during a rooftop install in a 20 mph gust. I caught it with my shoulder, popped my rotator cuff, couldn't work for six weeks. Now I run tag lines on anything over 300 pounds no matter what the job is. That extra five minutes setting them up beats losing two months of income.

maxl939d ago

Man that's rough, sorry to hear it. A popped rotator cuff is no joke, I know a guy who was out almost three months from one. Takes forever to come back from those injuries. You make a solid point about the math - five minutes of prep versus weeks of downtime, it's an easy call once you've been through it once.