Realizing that effective training will continue to play a critical role in the overall safety of crane and rigging operations, Crane Hot Line magazine, published by Maximum Capacity Media llc, Fort Dodge, Iowa, last week named the industry’s top trainers in both corporate and professional categories. The winners are featured in the November 2008 issue. Award winners will be granted scholarships to be used for educational purposes.
Trainers were recognized for having a positive impact on students, the work environment or the industry through the use of innovative training techniques or hands-on instruction, by encouraging peer or corporate accountability, and/or through quantitative evidence that the training was successful.
Nominations were made by individuals who had received training from the candidate or by the trainer’s supervisor. Nominations were accompanied by an essay describing why the nominee should be considered. Selections were made by the Maximum Capacity Media editorial staff.
Ray Feidt, OSHA and crane training manager for Stephenson Equipment Inc., Harrisburg, Pa., was named the top trainer in the corporate category. Corporate trainers are those whose primary employer is a construction company, crane rental company, manufacturer, or some other industry-related business.
Formerly a crane operator and crane technician for 15 years, Feidt has worked for SEI for 23 years. He was instrumental in the development of the company’s training program, which is also an NCCCO certification test site. In addition to crane operator training, Ray teaches rigging and signal-person training. He also manages and conducts training for SEI’s OSHA inspection department, which performs more than 1,000 inspections annually. The sole trainer for SEI, Feidt conducts training courses 20 weeks a year. In 2007, 182 operators took the CCO test at the SEI facility, and this year that number will exceed 200.
Recognized collectively as a team, the top trainers in the Professional Category are Mike Parnell, president of Industrial Training International Inc., Woodland, Wash., and his senior instructors, Devon Beasley and Russ Donaldson. Professional trainers are those whose primary employer is a training company.
Better known as Wire Rope and Rigging Consultants, this division of Industrial Training International has had an innovative and pioneering attitude toward training for more than 20 years. The company’s corporate philosophy is that “people have a greatly increased chance of retention by seeing, speaking and doing all at the same time. This means a heavy concentration on hands-on activities to allow participants to skillfully perform safe operating and rigging practices, to conduct effective inspections, and to provide quality maintenance.”
Parnell is a founding member of the Association of Crane & Rigging Professionals. Both Beasley and Donaldson have worked for Parnell for at least 20 years.
Crane Hot Line also recognized the following individuals as being worthy of Honorable Mention:
• Al Abel, lifting specialist, Mazzella Lifting Technologies, Cleveland, Ohio
• Jim Canfield, sales manager and presentation specialist, Chicago Hardware & Fixture Co., Franklin Park, Ill.
• Ronald Gray, president, Tower Crane School of Arizona, Phoenix
Each of the top trainers received a $1,250 scholarship, which may be used by recipients for train-the-trainer courses or industry conference attendance in order to further their own knowledge, or may be awarded in the recipient’s name to a student of their choice. Scholarship sponsors were AmQuip Corp., Bensalem, Pa.; The Crosby Group, Tulsa, Okla.; Altec, Birmingham, Ala.; Elliott Equipment Co., Omaha, Neb.; and Stephenson Equipment Inc., Harrisburg, Pa.
