I finally stopped ignoring my swing radius after 12 years on the job

For the longest time I thought I could eyeball my swing radius just fine without measuring. But last month on a site in Portland, I clipped a concrete pillar because I was off by about 3 feet. The safety guy walked over and showed me a photo of the incident from his phone, and that was the moment I realized I had been lazy about a basic step that could have cost someone their life. Has anyone else had a close call that made them change one of their regular habits?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_holly22h ago

My buddy Mike used to say the same thing @henrycooper, until he dropped a beam through a client's sunroof last summer because his "experience" told him the radius was fine.

eric72322h agoMost Upvoted

12 out of 14 times I've guessed a remodel timeline, I was wrong, hard data beats gut feelings every time.

henrycooper23h ago

Nah, I disagree - measuring everything just slows you down and experience counts for more.