THE WIRE
SAFETY. RIGGING. CRANES. PEOPLE.
The things worth talking about in crane safety, rigging and the people who do the work in British Columbia.
FEATURED — RIGGING
A qualification tells you what someone has been trained to do. Competency tells you whether they can actually do it.
Kojin Fox · 6 AUG 2026 · 2 MIN
Read A Ticket Isn't CompetencySAFETY
In B.C., WorkSafeBC enforces the Regulation — not a vibe called CSA, and not ASME B30 as one book. Mobile is Z150. Tower is Z248. B30 is a series, and only the volumes written into the Regulation are law.
Read What WorkSafeBC Part 14 Actually Names — Z150, Z248, ASME B30If people have to ask permission to see how you expect the work to be done, you do not have a safety program. You have a filing cabinet.
Read Why Proven Is PublicNot a poster. Six things that, if they are wrong, the hook should not leave the ground.
Read Six Things to Check Before You Take the LoadA safe work procedure that cannot be used on the day is theatre. It exists to be shown, not followed.
Read When a SWP Isn't Really a SWPRIGGING
You do not need a protractor on the hook. Measure sling length and vertical height. sin θ = H / L. Then you can use the tension formula.
Read How to Calculate Sling Angle for Rigging | Height ÷ Length — sin()Sling tension is not a feeling. For a two-leg bridle, T = W / (2 × sin θ). If you cannot do that, you cannot claim the angle is safe.
Read Sling Tension Is Sin() — Rigging MathIt is not the loudest person on the steel. It is the one who finds the centre of gravity before anyone finds the radio.
Read What a Good Rigger Actually Looks LikeCRANES
Memorizing definitions is not enough. The difficult Tower Crane Red Seal questions give you several answers that appear correct — and ask you to find the limiting factor.
Read The Hardest Questions on the Tower Crane Red Seal ExamClimbing is not adding another tower section. It temporarily changes the crane. Prepare, inspect, brief, balance, climb, then verify before the hook moves again.
Read Tower Crane Climbing Sequence: Prepare, Inspect, Brief, Balance, ClimbA mobile crane boom is a right triangle. Height is L × sin θ. Radius from the pin is L × cos θ. That is boom geometry — not a load chart.
Read Sin the Height. Cos the Radius. — Boom GeometryIf the first time they see the machine, the load and the site is when they park, you have already spent the briefing.
Read What Your Crane Crew Should Know Before They ArriveThe lifts that go badly are often the ones nobody bothered to treat as a lift. Small, familiar, 'we've done this.'
Read The Lift Looked Simple. It Wasn't.PEOPLE
INDUSTRY
Standards, the lift, and the procedures people work to.
THE WIRE
New stories on crane safety, rigging and the people doing the work.