Written by Troy Clark
I am pleased to share that I will be writing a regular column for Crane Hub Global, representing Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified.
My introduction appears in the August 2026 edition of Crane Hub Magazine, and I am looking forward to contributing to the publication and to the larger conversations taking place across the crane and lifting industry.
Read my introduction in the August 2026 Crane Hub Magazine
I have spent much of my career working in construction safety, crane operations, training, and workforce development. My work with Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified keeps me closely connected to people at very different stages of their careers.
Some have spent decades around cranes. Others are working toward certification or developing the qualifications needed to take on greater responsibility. Some are just discovering that the crane industry offers a career they may never have considered.
Those different perspectives are part of what Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified bring to the industry, and they will help shape the subjects I explore through Crane Hub.
Why Crane Hub Global
The crane industry is highly specialized, but many of the issues affecting it extend well beyond the equipment.
Technology changes. Projects become more complex. Employers compete for skilled workers. Experienced professionals eventually retire, taking years of knowledge with them. New workers have to learn how to perform the work, but they also have to develop the judgment to recognize when something about the work does not look right.
Crane Hub Global provides a place for the industry to discuss those issues while remaining connected to the equipment, companies, projects, and people that make the crane and lifting business what it is.
That combination appealed to us.
Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified work in different but closely related areas of workforce development. Training, certification preparation, qualification, skill development, and the transition from classroom knowledge to field performance all intersect with larger questions facing the crane industry.
The column gives us an opportunity to participate in those conversations from the perspective of people working directly with individuals developing careers in the industry.
I have always been interested in what happens beyond the written rule or procedure. Standards and regulations establish important requirements, but people still have to apply them under changing conditions. Training can establish knowledge and skills, but experience develops over time. A company can establish expectations, but supervisors and crews ultimately demonstrate what those expectations look like in the field.
There is a lot worth exploring in that space.
What I Plan to Write About
My column will focus primarily on cranes, safety, leadership, training, and workforce development.
Workforce development will be a recurring subject because we see the challenge firsthand.
The industry needs qualified people, but finding people is only part of the problem. We also have to think about what happens after someone enters the industry.
What does the path look like for a person who wants to become a rigger, signalperson, crane operator, supervisor, or trainer? Where do formal training and certification fit? Where does field experience fit? Who helps that person develop the judgment that cannot be learned simply by studying for an examination?
These are practical questions for an industry that depends heavily on experience.
I am also interested in what experience itself does to the way we approach risk.
Experience is one of the crane industry’s greatest assets. An experienced operator, rigger, or lift professional may recognize conditions that someone newer to the work would miss. Years in the field create knowledge that is difficult to duplicate in a classroom.
But familiarity can influence how we perceive risk.
When a task has been performed successfully many times, it can begin to feel predictable. The difficulty is recognizing when today’s lift is not quite the same as yesterday’s. Conditions change. Configurations change. Loads, crews, access, weather, ground conditions, and jobsites change.
Experience matters, but so does continuing to pay attention.
Leadership is another area I want to explore, particularly the leadership that happens during ordinary work.
How does a supervisor respond when someone questions the plan? How does an experienced operator treat the new rigger assigned to the crew? What happens after somebody makes a mistake? What are newer workers learning from the behaviors experienced people accept without comment?
Those everyday moments may tell us as much about an organization’s culture as anything written in a policy.
Building Careers, Not Just Filling Positions
One of the reasons this opportunity fits Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified is our focus on developing people for the industry.
There is a difference between filling an open position and developing a person for a career.
Training and certification can be important parts of that development, but neither represents the end of it. People need opportunities to apply what they have learned. They need exposure to different situations. They need experienced professionals willing to explain why something is done a particular way, not simply tell them what to do.
They also need to see where the work can lead.
Someone entering the industry should be able to understand how today’s job can develop into tomorrow’s opportunity. For one person, that may mean becoming a crane operator. Another may move toward supervision, lift planning, safety, inspection, training, management, or another part of the industry.
There is no single career path. That is part of what makes workforce development in the crane industry worth discussing.
The challenge for employers, trainers, and experienced industry professionals is not simply getting people through the door. It is creating opportunities for capable people to continue developing once they are there.
Making Room for Different Perspectives
There are technical requirements in this industry that are not matters of opinion. Accuracy matters when discussing regulations, standards, qualifications, and established requirements.
There are also questions where experienced and capable people can look at the same issue and reach different conclusions.
Those discussions are valuable too.
A crane operator may see an issue differently than a safety professional. A rigger may notice something a manager never encounters. A trainer sees challenges from another angle. Contractors, manufacturers, owners, supervisors, and people entering the industry each bring a different perspective.
I will bring my own experience to these discussions, along with what we learn from the people we work with through Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified. But I do not expect our perspective to be the only one.
The objective is not agreement for the sake of agreement. It is a better conversation about the issues affecting the people who work in and around cranes.
Looking Ahead
I appreciate Crane Hub Global giving me the opportunity to contribute to its publication and audience on behalf of Colorado Crane Operator School and Crane Qualified.
Over the coming months, I plan to write about the people behind the lifts, development of the next generation, transfer of experience, safety and field judgment, leadership, training, career opportunities, and some of the challenges the crane industry will have to address as its workforce changes.
Some articles will examine familiar practices from a different angle. Others will focus on workforce issues, career development, or lessons that experienced professionals have accumulated over years in the field.
I will offer my perspective, but I do not want the column to become a collection of predetermined answers.
The crane industry has a tremendous amount of experience worth listening to.
I hope the column gives us another place to do that.
Read my introduction in the August 2026 edition of Crane Hub Magazine
Troy Clark | Writer | Speaker | Safety & Leadership Advocate
