Did you know that Associated Training Services can travel and bring our top-rated Rigging/Signalperson Qualification and Certification Programs to the job site? It’s true, and it works very well for the specialized training your work crews might require for that site. ATS will train your work personnel using classroom and written curricula, including testing and practical instruction. Our training standards include:

Rigging/Signalperson Qualification Program

• Designed to meet all OSHA qualification standards
• Written curriculum and testing
• Practical training and exam
• A minimum of 8 hours of rigging/signalperson instruction
• Up to 12 hours of rigging/signalperson instruction
• Every student is issued a qualification compliance card by ATS after completing the course

Rigging/Signalperson Certification Program

• We exceed the OSHA qualification standard for rigging/signalperson training
• Students receive written tests to match in-class curriculum
• Students are administered practical training followed by practical examinations
• 4 days of training includes 32-36 hours of training
• Students receive NCCCO Rigging Level One as well as NCCCO Signalperson Certifications after successfully completing the training

This is a great way to ensure that your worksite meets the requirements of OSHA. It’s also a great way to get everybody on the same page for procedures and standards. With the spring construction season, the demands for rigging and signalpersons who are able to meet NCCCO standards will just keep growing faster than the grass sprouting everywhere.

Associated Training Services has been providing heavy equipment operator training for a long time, and our Rigging/Signalperson Qualification and Certification Programs are part of our tradition. Nobody should be operating heavy equipment without the appropriate safety standards, and the person doing the rigging and signaling is an essential part of those safety standards. Keep your crews safe by providing the training they need and make it happen by letting ATS travel to your site for custom training.

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, have a lot of rules and regulations in their arsenal. And you know what? Every single one of those rules and regulations is the result of trying to avoid an ugly thing: death and destruction to workers. Those regulations are like links in a chain – each one is ineffective on its own, but they combine to be strong.

Professional rigger / signalperson training is one of those essential links in your safety chain because your riggers and your signalers are performing basic safety procedures affecting every aspect of the job. If the load isn’t rigged right, accidents are inevitable. If the communication isn’t happening, accidents are inevitable. This job is one that truly merits comprehensive training so that everybody on site stays alive and whole.

Associated Training Services (ATS) provides that comprehensive training. We think it’s the best in the world! All the experience of 45 years combined with the best rigger and signal training instructors in the industry to get our students ready for both written and practical OSHA certification tests.

ATS offers two levels of training in this important field:

1. Rigging/Signalperson Qualification
2. Rigging/Signalperson Certification

Both programs emphasize OSHA safety compliance and ensure basic skills, knowledge of rigging and signal use, and teach the latest OSHA regulations. ATS will even come to a company’s work site and train personnel in the classroom with written materials, including testing and practical instruction in both levels of certification.

The difference between our two types of programs is simple. Those completing the Qualification Program have from 8 to 12 hours of rigging/signalperson instruction, written curricula & testing, practical training & exam, and are issued a qualification compliance card at the completion of the course showing they meet all OSHA qualification standards.

The students in the Rigging/Signalperson Certification Program have gone through 4 days of training (32-36 hours), all the classroom and practical training and examinations, and exceed OSHA qualification standards for rigging/signalperson training. Successful completion results in NCCCO Rigging Level One and NCCCO Signalperson Certifications.

Both levels of training are going to meet the safety standards you want on site. Associated Training Services can provide what you need to keep your safety chain strong in our OSHA Qualified Rigging / Signalperson Training.

Riggers are some of the most important people on the heavy equipment or construction site. Their job is to ensure safety and to maneuver equipment using ropes, chains, and hoists from one location or position to another. A rigger may be called to pull a bulldozer out of a ditch or a crane out of a body of water after falling off a dock.

Riggers must pass a training class and receive certification. They must pass a test to meet OSHA standards and demonstrate they understand common safety standards.

Another responsibility of riggers on the heavy equipment job site is to perform maintenance on equipment. If a grader or loader stalls while performing tasks on the spot and the crew cannot fix the problem at their skill level, a rigger may be called to repair the equipment on the spot rather than tow the heavy equipment back to the maintenance shop. If the rigger cannot fix the problem on the spot, then towing may be used as a last resort.

The rigging professional on the job site must understand how weight shifts on specific types of terrains and under certain weather conditions. He must be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the various types of heavy equipment.

Riggers must also be experts in the use of ropes, chains, hoists, slings, hooks, swivels, shackles, block and tackle, and other lifting and heavy equipment moving machines. She must understand which types of leverage provides the best support for any type of situation. A rigger is a valuable member of any heavy equipment team.

Learn how you can become a rigger today.

How do you know if a rigger is qualified to perform a certain task? Just because a rigger has been to training school, does that make him qualified? What if a rigger has 20 years experience on the work site – can he then perform any type of rigging job?

According to OSHA, a rigger is qualified to perform a job if he

• possess(es) a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or (has) extensive knowledge, training, and experience, and
• successfully demonstrate(s) the ability to solve problems related to rigging loads.

A rigger must be able to properly rig the load for a particular job. He or she need not be qualified to do every type of rigging job. Each load that requires rigging has unique properties that can range from the simple to the complex. However, previous experiences does not automatically qualify the rigger to rig unstable, unusually heavy, or eccentric loads that may require a tandem lift, multiple lifts, or use of custom rigging equipment. In essence, employers must make sure that the person can do the rigging work needed for the exact types of loads and lifts for a particular job with the equipment and rigging that will be used for that job.

In other words, it is up to the employer to ensure that riggers on the work site are qualified to handle a particular task. Many times, rigger training can qualify a person for specific rigger jobs, but in many cases, skills can only be learned by apprenticeship.

The ATS rigger training will give your riggers basic knowledge from which to build their careers. You can take it from there.

On construction sites and other industrial work locations where large heavy machines are used, someone has to set that equipment up so that operators can use it. The operators generally don’t set up their own equipment. There are specialists who do that for them prior to the work assignment. These specialists are called riggers.

Riggers also come along behind the operators and dismantle the equipment when the work is done.

This is a very demanding job and is fraught with many safety hazards. We are talking about a lot of moving parts, and many of those parts are themselves quite heavy. Riggers could find themselves using heavy equipment, such as cranes and loaders, to move heavy machinery components into place so that the rigging team can assemble them properly. On large industrial sites, the set up and assembly portion of the project could take days to complete.

Riggers, like any heavy equipment operator, must be trained to proficiently carry out the tasks of their jobs. This training is subject to OSHA standards.

If you are interested in becoming a heavy equipment rigger, consider taking the ATS Rigging and Signalperson training course.

ATS will qualify you to become a heavy equipment rigger and certify you by OSHA standards to carry out the heavy tasks associated with setting up and tearing down a work site. Not only do riggers assemble and disassemble heavy equipment on site, but they are also often called upon to move equipment from one location to another. It’s an important job with highly specialized skills.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has its regulation for the delivery of rigging and signalperson training, as well as the certification of riggers and signalpersons. Associated Training Services does not set those OSHA-Compliant standards, but we must comply with them.

As a matter of course, ATS training programs exceed OSHA requirements. That includes the rigging certification course we offer.

There are actually two rigging and signalperson training programs at ATS. There is a qualification course, which trains people interested in the profession to become qualified riggers and/or signalpersons. When you graduate from this course you’ll be qualified to hold a job as a rigger.

The other course is a certification course. After graduating this course, you’ll be certified as a rigger/signalperson and can actually hold a position as either one in your state.

The ATS rigging and signalperson certification training program follow these standards:

• Written exams match the in-class curriculum. In other words, what you train on is what you’ll be tested on.
• Exceeds all OSHA requirements for training.
• You’ll receive practical training assignments followed by practical exams.
• You’ll receive 32-36 hours of rigging/signalperson training over the course of four days.
• After you successfully complete the training you’ll be awarded certifications for NCCCO Rigging Level One and NCCCO Signalperson.

If you’re ready to enter the proud ranks of qualified and certified riggers, then ATS’s rigging/signalperson training program is for you.

Sometimes an employer needs specialized training for their employees. Associated Training Services is capable of providing that training on-site or at our location.

Since 1959, ATS has been training truck drivers and heavy machine operators on a variety of equipment. Our reputation is based on our long-standing success in delivering this training and meeting the needs of employers in the industry. We provide skills-oriented training for employers in the following areas:

• NCCCO Crane Operator Training, Testing and Certification
• OSHA Compliant Rigging & Signal Person Training, Testing and Qualification
• NCCER Heavy Equipment Training, Testing and Qualification
• Class-A CDL Commercial Driver Training, Testing, and Licensing

Employer-specific specialized training can take place in a number of ways. Our training programs include training on backhoes, bulldozers, wheel loaders, excavators, scrapers, articulated dump trucks, motor graders, all-terrain forklifts, mobile hydraulic cranes, lattice boom cranes, articulated boom cranes, and commercial motor vehicles. We also provide CDL testing for employees who want to become truck drivers. This training can be rolled into your employer-specific specialized training curriculum.

In essence, ATS builds a curriculum around your employee’s needs. Our training initiatives are designed to improve their skill levels while meeting your needs as employer.

For more information about the ATS Employer-Specific Specialized Training package, visit our website.

The construction industry has gone through considerable change over the last five years. A lot of changes have been forced through legislation that now mandates employers in respect to safety training, compliance, and the certification of many occupations. Crane operators were amongst the first to feel the effect of these changes, and in recent years riggers and signal persons have felt its effects.

To be employed on a construction site as a rigger, you now need some form of recognition of your skills and safety knowledge. This is generally achieved through training and certification. Many heavy equipment operators have been in the construction industry for years and have managed to seek certification (or qualification) based on that experience and the currency of their knowledge. Those who are now looking to take up positions as riggers (or signal persons) need the appropriate training and assessment in order to formally receive certification.

Training and certification is not a long process (three to four days depending on experience and knowledge) and can be completed as part of a group training exercise onsite, or as part of a class at a training school. ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Training Schools has been certified to deliver both the training and certification of riggers and signal persons. Certification is a nationally recognized award, which means successful individuals can work in any state without further training or assessment.

If you require OSHA-compliant rigger certification, then you (or your employer) should contact us for details on our training programs. If OSHA inspectors determine that employees have not met the minimum requirements to work as riggers, then that employer could be liable to large fines. The construction industry is constantly changing and the emphasis now is only making these workplaces safer for all. Rigger and signal person training is one of those areas that was targeted for change – are you OSHA compliant?

In heavy equipment, there is a huge need for people to hoist, lift, push, and pull heavy objects. There is special equipment for these large tasks and riggers are the people who operate that equipment. In order to secure advanced employment in the heavy equipment field as a rigger, you’ll need to be trained on this equipment.

ATS has a special training course just for riggers.

When you enroll in the ATS rigger course you’ll be trained according to the standards established by OSHA. There are two programs that will qualify you for work as a rigger on a heavy equipment operations team.

• Rigger Qualification Program – This training program includes written and practical training and testing. It includes 8 to 12 hours of training, and once you complete training ATS will issue you a rigger qualification compliance card.
• Rigger Certification Program – The ATS Rigger Certification Program consists of 32 to 36 hours of training and it also includes a written and practical training and testing portion during the course. ATS is not authorized to certify riggers so you’ll get your final certification certificate from the National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).

Both of these courses will train you and qualify you to work as a rigger and as a signalperson on a heavy equipment operations team. Once you receive your qualifications you can start work immediately upon finding an employer. You are just a few short hours of being a qualified or certified heavy equipment rigger.

If you visit a number of construction sites, there is one thing they may have in common – they all use a different language when it comes to hand signals. This often occurs when a team has worked together for a long period of time. Informal hands signals start to creep in, often because they are thought to be easier than the industry standard signals.

Industry standards are important. To begin with, they are portable so a worker can work on any site and they will be using the same language as everyone else. In fact, your English skills may be barely adequate, but your hand signals will be clearly understood by everyone. Industry standards are also important as they are generally deemed to be the clearest and easiest to learn by all.

If you employ riggers and signal persons, do they use the industry standard hand signals? It is now compulsory for workers in these areas to hold an OSHA qualification for their positions. This qualification is a way of recognizing the skills that each employee has in their field, and that they meet national minimal standards. Hand signals are an important component of a rigger’s and signal person’s working life.

For employers who have workers in either one (or both) of these fields, you need to ensure they all hold an OSHA qualification for riggers or signal persons. If they don’t, you may be subject to legal action resulting in quite large fines. Associated Training Services has a number of programs designed to qualify riggers and signal persons. These programs can be delivered either at your workplace or in our training schools. Upon completion of the programs, your employees will be eligible for compliance cards, thus meeting the new labor law requirements.