December 2015—One of the best-attended educational events of the inaugural CONEXPO Latin America (CELA)—held October 21–24, 2015 in Santiago, Chile—was NCCCO’s Crane and Rigging Safety Professional Conference featuring top-level presentations from crane and rigging world leaders.
Jim D. Wiethorn, P.E., Principal and Chairman, Haag Engineering Co., Houston, TX, kicked off the program with Crane Accidents, Their Causes and Trends: A Study of Causes and Trends to Create a Safer Work Environment, a presentation based on an unprecedented study of over 700 crane accidents between 1983 and 2013.
Crane Block Concepts, Inspection, Terminations, and the Load Hook was the focus of Oscar Sutter, Regional Sales Manager and Trainer, The Crosby Group, Viña del Mar, Chile, who discussed current standards and best practices relating to crane block and associated concepts.
Vial Equipment’s Safety Supervisor, Raimundo Murillo, came from Santiago, Chile, to dive into Crane Inspections: Best Practices and Global Perspectives. And NCCCO Director of Operations and Program Development Joel Oliva, led a discussion of the assessment of skilled trades in the crane and rigging industry from a global perspective in a presentation titled The ‘World’ of Certification: Past, Present, and Future.