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That week in February with the constant 40mph gusts in Omaha
We had a 150-ton lift scheduled for a Wednesday, but the wind just never let up for five straight days. My boss kept pushing to 'wait for a window' but the forecast was wrong every single time, so we lost the whole week's pay. How do you guys handle a client who won't reschedule when the weather is clearly unsafe?
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hunt.hayden6mo ago
Man, that's exactly what @tessaw91 is talking about with people gambling with safety. We had a client refuse to sign a weather delay clause, so we started charging a full day's standby fee after the first canceled lift. It makes them think twice about making us sit there hoping for a break that won't come.
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tara_martin6mo ago
Oh man, that's the absolute worst. We had a nearly identical thing happen on a site in Lincoln last spring. The project manager kept saying the wind would drop below 20, but it just kept howling. After two days of sitting in the trucks, our whole crew just said no. It's tough losing the pay, but watching a load swing into something because of a gust? That image in your head makes the choice pretty clear. The client was mad, but they found someone else to take the risk, and honestly, good luck to them.
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dianawilson6mo ago
Yeah, a buddy of mine had a crane job get pushed like that. His foreman finally just packed the crew up and left after the third day of waiting on a 'window' that never came. The client was furious, but the company backed the crew's call. They ended up losing that client, but my friend said it wasn't worth the risk of someone getting hurt over a single paycheck. Sometimes you just have to walk away, even if it stings.
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tessaw916mo ago
Tara saying "that image in your head makes the choice pretty clear" really hits home. I see this same push to ignore clear problems everywhere, not just on a job site. It's like people in charge get so focused on the schedule or the money that they stop seeing the real danger right in front of them. They gamble with other people's safety just to keep things moving. It's a scary way to run things, and it never seems to end well for the crew actually taking the risk.
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