26
RIGGINGREVIEW
ACT
OCTOBER2014
TimHillegonds
discusses
how the tragedy of 9/11
inspired the owners of
Tech Safety Lines to create
life-saving fall protection
provideaquickmeansof escape from
anywhere inor arounda tower crane.
According toWise, a20-year veteran
of theDallasFireDepartment and
co-founder andchief operationsofficerof
TechSafetyLines, thecrane industry isone
of theprimarybenefactorsof these types
of systems.
“Tower crane rescues arealready
inherentlychallengingbecauseof their
one-way-up, one-way-downenvironment,”
he said. “And they’remadeevenmore
difficult becauseof their relative rarity.
However, that doesn’tmeanacompanyhas
tobecaught unprepared.”
While incidents involving tower cranes
might indeedbe rarewhencompared to
other industryaccidents like slip-and-
fallsormusclepulls,when theydooccur,
they’re serious andcompanieshadbetter
beprepared.
“An incapacitatedoperator.Amedical
emergencyorheart attack.Aworker
arduous journeydown the road to
recovery.
Some1,500miles southandwest of
GroundZero, inDallas, therewere two
individuals,DianeWaghorneandBrent
Wise,who saw theevents that took
place inNewYorkCityandWashington,
D.C., andwerecompelled to takeaction.
Motivatedby the fact that somanypeople
were trappedonhigh floorsof the towers
andunable todescend safely, the two
of them formedTechSafetyLines, a fall
protection, fall arrest and rescue training
companydedicated toprotectingworkers
at height.
WhileTechSafetyLinesoffers avariety
of safetyproducts, suchasharnesses,
lanyards and cablegrabsdesigned
tobeused inanumberof different
environments, someof theirmost
innovativeproducts are their rescuekits.
Designed tobeusedaloneorwithanother
personassisting, theARK (AssistedRescue
Kit) and theSRK-11 (SelfRescue
Kit) ensure immediateandadaptable
escape for someone in trouble
highabove theground, suchas an
operatorof a tower crane.
Thekitsutilizehigh-
heat polymer line
witha tensile strength
exceeding6,500-pounds
and feature controlleddecent devices
withdual breaking systems that
Emergency fall
protection
I
nmanyways, thewritingof this
RiggingReviewcolumn is timely. I’ve
beenworkingon the research for this
articleover thispastweek, theweekof
September8, andyesterday, at 8:48a.m.
eastern timeonThursday, September11,
NewYorkCityheldacitywidemoment
of silence inobservanceof the first plane
striking theNorthTower.
Collectively, on that unforgettable
morning, thecountrywatched indisbelief
as the first planehit the tower.Weall
rememberwherewewereandwhat it
felt like, andhow the senseof security
we typicallywalkaroundwithwas
unexpectedly shaken loose.
For someof us, allwecoulddowas
mourn. But formanypeopleacross the
country, theywerecompelled to take
action. Firemenandmedical personnel
rushed toManhattan tohelp. People
donatedmoneyandclothes andblood.
And thecountrybegan the longand
BrentWise, left, and DianeWaghorne,
right, founders of Tech Safety Lines.
The StepWise Lanyard.
THE
AUTHOR
TimHillegonds
spent
10 years in the heavy
construction insurance
industry before founding
Thrive Creative Services,
a creative copywriting agency dedicated to
helping businesses tell their stories. For
more information visit
.
