ross.felix•16d agoProlific Poster

That time a foreman asked me to "walk the boom" on a tower crane in Denver

I was about 150 feet up on a Liebherr 180 tower crane, just finishing a steel beam lift. The foreman, this older guy named Chuck, yells up on the radio asking if I can "walk the boom" to check a loose pin at the tip. I thought he was joking until he waved a safety harness up at me. Told him I'd rather rappel down the side of a building than tip-toe on a lattice boom at that height. Has anyone else had a supervisor ask for something that felt like a circus act?

2 comments

2 Comments

gonzalez.reese16d ago

And what exactly was Chuck planning to do if that pin let go while you were out there, catch you with his bare hands? I'm pretty sure "walk the boom" is something they put in those old training videos as a warning, not a suggestion. Honestly, I would've told him my safety harness was suddenly "lost" in the bottom of my tool bag.

sarah53116d ago

My big fear with "walk the boom" is that you'd get out there, realize the pin's been loose the whole time, and then you're suddenly starring in your own Darwin Awards highlight reel. I'd probably freeze up and start yelling, "Hey Chuck, catch my wallet, you're gonna find it anyway." Definitely a "lost" harness would buy you an extra coffee break while Chuck reconsiders his life choices.