well said pumpnfinish  when will they learn

There is only 2 people in this industry that have any balls. Richard O'Brien and Pete Horner....they don't work cheap nor do they compromise on safety. Until the rest of the industry grows a pair and everyone quits trying to get all the work at whatever price we will suffer as a whole. Time for the owners to band together and demand safety and money like the crane industry we will always be the red headed stepchild

Well it's like that for the crane because he has over 360 pages of OSHA regulations. Concrete pumps 0.You will find some reg's like for the laborers on hoses and clamps. I went to DC .You start by going to a ACCH meeting. They listen to  your safety concerns,and will advise OSHA if a rule needs to be made. 

Perhaps you need to band together with your competition and iron this stuff out. If you can all agree on what the rules should be, the customer has no choice but to maintain a safe place for setup. They can't pull the "if you won't do it, I'll call someone that will."  I know for a fact, that where I operate, every company is on the same page on safety issues. And operators have been canned for unsafe setup, even though the job was completed without incident. 

not sure if this works or helps any, but if it comes to an argument with the super, have a waiver ready, that the super signs, that says something in the line of : site conditions are not acceptable, and basically that he accepts responibility If something happens. If they want you to set up in a spot, that is not suited, he shouldnt have a problem signing the waiver?

I have refused to set up in unsafe conditions. I say, "See the phone number on the boom? You can call my boss as I won't do it." I do not compromise on setup. Your right crane guys get everything they want. They do not get asked if they can suck in an outrigger so someone can get by with a forklift. We have literally not killed enough people in our industry for people not to walk on us. OSHA Inspectors do not even know what a concrete pump is most of the time. They are more concerned that the clamps have safety pins in them than if the operator is propery trained and the machine setup properly. Hell, I got an OSHA violation becauce I have oil in my pressure gauges from an OSHA Inspector. He said the gauge was defective and it took a while to clear that up.

JOE You nailed it dead on my freind. Pump companies who have the Balls to back up a opertor on unsafe conditions .

its impossible for me to keep my cool when surrounded by dumb people TELLING me to do dumb things.

Ive been TOLD to do things that I know is wrong and unsafe by the boss onsite.  It is not just pump companies who are spiteful to each other.  there are contractors or just the super who are spiteful to pump companies.  to a young and inexperienced operator, contractor supers can be scary people.  Threating a young op that his employer is going to have to buy mud seems real to the op.  Ive been lied too, threated, had heavy objects thrown at me, almost lost my face to a shovel wielding quebecer and quit my job twice for not being back by my dispatch all regarding unsafe act.  My resume and referrences is all i have to keep my livelyhood.  Bad news in concrete gets around fast and gets blown out of preportion faster  I know this bull shit will never end and yet still love pumping.  Been wondering who the dumb one truely is?

signing the bill before hand will not bring the dead back or heal broken bones!!!  id rather starve and be able to sleep at night.  Families dont have that luxury and there seem to be a few soulless people out there so the same ol' story will continue

I have found that if you go to the Project Manager, rather than the super, EVERYBODYS attitude changes! Say when he signs, as well as the super, you'll do your best! But no promises! It's worked for me!

I know exactly where you're coming from PnF . JUst had a situation 2 months where a customer called and complained on me for taking 15 minutes longer than usual on crap ground because I had to scurry all over the site looking for whatever scraps of wood I could find to keep my outrigger pads from sinking out of site . What really ticked me off was when I was told by my boss, it's a 39 meter not a 52 . Maybe I'm wrong, but don't lil booms fall over just as ugly as big ones do? 

Dipstick I don't know what he said but they got and ear full, one guy on the phone, noticed no one gave him any lip.

Seems like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't in this business a lot. Companies preach at you about setting up safely then fuss at you if you refuse to set up until you can do it safely . I feel like all companies need to start having a backbone and backing their operators instead of chewing them out for trying to do the job safely. If all companies grow a spine then contractors will quit trying to force their operators to do things they know they shouldn't be doing.

guys all bosses aren't how they've been portrayed , we will not setup if it's not safe , all of our pumps are offered dunnage and 45 meter and over are required to deploy dunnage , the problem I am having is actually getting operators that do it , we can provide all the tools necessary but if they are not used it is a waste .

Now until OSHA starts handing out hefty fines for infractions , this is never going to change , it's not the ACPA's job to enforce these rules , it's managements