The Role of a Lift Director
NCCCO recently published a series of articles about the various team members of a crane and rigging crew. The articles outline and define the responsibilities and training requirements for each of these roles. Responsibilities of a Lift Director are discussed in the third article in the series.
The Site Supervisor is responsible for selecting a qualified Lift Director. A Lift Director has oversight of a wide variety of activities, including addressing safety concerns; ensuring personnel understand their responsibilities, duties and associated hazards; and making sure precautions have been implemented for special lifting operations.
In some ways, the Lift Director is the last line of defense before the lift begins. For example, the Lift Director is responsible for verifying that the area where crane operation will take place has been properly prepared. While the controlling entity (often the site owner or general contractor) must ensure that the ground conditions will support the equipment, before the lift commences the Lift Director should double check that the ground conditions are stable, the crane has been properly set for the lift and the load is balanced.
As we all know, job site conditions can change from day-to-day and those changes can impact the lift plan, so having a Lift Director inspect the ground conditions, outrigger pads or crane pads and crane setup before a lift is critical to safe lifting operations. That is also why it is imperative for jobsite personnel to know who the Lift Director is because if there is an issue the Lift Director is responsible for halting operations and addressing those concerns.