Why does every new guy think they can skip the hand signals?

I was on a site in Phoenix last Thursday and this younger operator kept ignoring the tag line guy’s signals. He was trying to swing a beam into a tight spot near some scaffolding and just kept craning his neck to look instead of watching the hand guy. It took him three tries to get it right while the rest of us are waiting on him. My mentor back in 2019 drilled it into me that even if you think you see the spot better, the hand guy has the overall view. I just don’t get why training programs let people pass without hammering this in. Has anyone else had to stop a lift because the operator wouldn’t follow the signals?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa_murray1mo agoTop Commenter

Isn't it possible the guy had a decent line of sight and just misjudged the swing a little bit? A few seconds of fumbling doesn't always mean he was blowing off the hand signals on purpose. Training programs can't drill common sense into everyone, but sometimes it's just a bad day not a safety crisis.

angela_harris1mo ago

Nope, had that same crap happen on a job last fall. I just stopped everything and told him flat out, "Watch the guy with the vest or we don't move this load.