SC&RA’s 2016 Crane & Rigging Workshop Set for Sept. 21-23 at Gaylord near Washington, D.C

(Centreville, Va.—June 30, 2016) -The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) has released the schedule for its Crane & Rigging Workshop. This year, the Workshop will be held Sept. 21-23 at the Gaylord National Harbor, National Harbor, Md. Offering sweeping views of the Potomac River, the meeting site is only 8 miles south of the nation’s capital.

In recent years, the Workshop has attracted more than 550 crane and rigging professionals, including top managers, cranes operators, safety directors and operations managers from around the world. As always at this annual event, the focus is on safety issues, regulatory and legislative updates, and networking opportunities. A number of the industry’s top professionals will present educational sessions during the annual workshop, including, in order of schedule:

• Opening Session: OSHA’s Agenda —Dean McKenzie, Deputy Director, Directorate of Construction, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will discuss the standards that are currently under review and their potential direct and long-range impact on the crane and rigging industry. Of particular interest are his thoughts on the highly anticipated amendments to the Crane and Derricks in Construction safety standard.
• The Science of Cabling & Optimization Solutions—This hands-on presentation by Joost Eertman, Technical Director, Ropeblock B.V., will examine the types of wire rope and how each interacts with sheaves and crane blocks. He also will discuss the latest advancements to improve the longevity and performance of wire rope.
• An Inside Look at Kiewit’s Crane & Rigging Management—In this three-part session, Bret Shields, Equipment Manager, Kiewit Crane Services, will share his company’s essential management principles, emphasizing new operators, hiring, training and technology; risk assessment and mitigation for cranes on job sites; rigging personnel and qualifications; and lift planning and incident reporting.
• Driving Best Practices in Business—W. Chris Daum, President and CEO, FMI Corporation, will share key findings from an FMI study that analyze why the same old sales tactics no longer work and examine measurable results for the most successful strategies today, including how to instill a companywide business development culture to drive new opportunities.
• Hands-On Crane Inspection—Jeff Hammons, Vice President, Risk Management, AmQuip Crane Rental LLC, is bringing a mobile crane to the Gaylord for a first-hand  demonstration on how to perform a proper crane inspection and pass a weigh station or road inspection.
• Rigging with Alternative Equipment—Christopher Cox, P.E., President, Engineered Rigging, will explore a variety of innovative and creative rigging strategies for different types of equipment, including forklifts, jacking systems and self-propelled modular transporters.  
• Who’s Training Your People? Developing a Valid Quality-Control Program—In this two-part session, Peter Juhren, Vice President of Operations, Morrow Equipment Company, LLC, will focus first on steps to validate a training program and then move on to how to develop an effective Quality Control and Quality Assurance program.
• The ELD Mandate: The Time Has Come—NBIS’s Bill Smith, Executive Vice President of Claims & Risk Management,  and Joe Doerr, Specialized Transportation Program Manager, will discuss the effects the ELD mandate will have on a crane company’s operations, as well as possible exemptions that a company may use, based on a short working radius.
• 2016 Rigging Jobs of the Year—Representatives from the winners, Able Rigging Contractors, Inc., Barnhart and Mammoet, will present their jobs, including the extraction of more than 4 million pounds using custom engineered equipment, the installation of a boiler weighing nearly half a million pounds with an offset center of gravity and limited clearance, the dismantling and lowering of a tower crane from a rooftop nearly 1,500 feet high, and the removal of a refinery compressor with equipment customized for the job.

This year’s Workshop also will feature a factory tour of the Manitowoc Cranes Shady Grove facilities, which includes more than 20 buildings on 305 acres. Located approximately two hours from the Workshop site, this facility is the center for engineering and fabrication for the company’s rough-terrain, truck-mounted, industrial and boom truck product lines. It also serves as an assembly hub for several models of lattice-boom crawler cranes, a Manitowoc Crane Care customer service center, and the state-of-the-art Product Verification Center. Lunch and chartered bus transportation to and from the hotel will be provided.
    Additionally, Workshop registration will include meetings of the Crane & Rigging Group’s Safety Education & Training Committee, Labor Committee, and Governing Committee; a sold-out Exhibit Center featuring products and services from 90 companies; a complimentary buffet lunch; receptions; continental breakfasts and refreshment breaks.
    Visit www.scranet.org/events and click on the “Crane & Rigging Workshop” link to review the program, see who already has registered, learn more about the hotel and travel information, and register as an attendee. Or call SC&RA at (703) 698-0291 for additional information.