David- BYS

It's funny to me the companies in our area that are A: run well and B: do not have a crushing debt-load these companies seem to be busier than they (and we) know what to do with. The companies that were maginally run can't get work to save their lives. It's kind of like real estate. The realtors that have listings get more listings. The realtors with nothing-doing are dry.

Thanks everybody. I have downloaded ABCs and it seems very thorough. I have a webinar with ABC on Wednesday. I worry that it seems pretty cumbersome. You didn't hear this from me but two of my users will be close to 60 years old & if it doesn't work right the first time, they will simply not use it and I'll have spent this money & effort for nothing. I also have a webinar with Cyrious on Thursday. They seem pretty complicated, too. We'll see.

When we are working off road, we have a set of railroad ties to compliment our set of outrigger pads. They really spread out the surface area which helps a lot. When used is pairs, they ae also strong enough to 'bridge' obstacles. Only bad news is once they are mud-slicked they are hell to get back on to the truck bed. A definate team effort.

After several years of an administration that took the fangs out of OSHA, the fangs are being put back in. In the new stimulus package approved by congress, the goal is to higher 400 new OSHA field inspectors. This is important to us because on OSHA's hotlist are the three most common workplace accidents that result in injury or death: 1. Electric shock 2. Lack of fall protection 3. Crane accidents due to overloading or improper setup. Sound familiar? The sign industry is one of the few sectors of the ecomony that comes into contact with all three of these daily...one the same job site! Here is some info we have gathered from an OSHA expert in a recent meeting: --They really get interested in outriggers & truck setup. They insist that the outriggers must be fully deployed everytime the crane is engaged. It is uncommon for crews to deploy the 'curb side' riggers & leave the 'street side' only partly deployed: wrong answer. The crazy thing is I see Missouri DOT guilty of this every day so they can avoid closing a lane of traffic. In the discussion with the OSHA expert, they said that the engineers have proved what outrigger scheme is safe. When crews start using 'logic' or 'creativity' on the site, trucks get tipped over. People get hurt. They were also interested & photographed the truck chassis bubble level. The bed must be level, the bubble must be within the circle. Not touching the circle, no close the circle, within the circle. --Outriggers must be set on a prepared surface. ** NOTE ** are you paying attention? the top of a curb is not a prepared surface. If the curb crumbles, the outrigger has someplace to fall. If it is set on an oversized ourrigger pad on bare earth, there is no place for the to 'fall.' You could argue the relative merit of concrete versus dirt, but I am confident you will lose the arguement. --Cable condition must be perfect. No cut wires, no crushed cable, no untwisting wires, etc. If your cable doesn't look perfect, fix it now. --What is the date on your fall harnesses for your crew members? What is a date on the lanyard? Can you find the date? Did not know harness & landyards came with expiration dates? Find out now. Not later. --Here is the big one. This really caught us off guard. Traffic control. Find the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devises. They have a standard that if you close an interstate, you need these signs & controls, if you work on the right of way of primary road, there is a different standard, on a right of way of a secondary road, another standard, a private street on an apartment complex still has a standard. The bare minimum is posting a 4'x4' orange diamond sign saying 'men working' but you may need more so you'd better look. These are the types of rules that we have not really faced before and after 8 years of a toothless tigar, many crew members have never worked under rules so strict, so make safety talks part of your daily meeting. Reinforce ladder safety, work boots, hardhat if needed, traffic control, safeing live circuits, and on and on and on...