Every crane rigging school teaches the different types of rigging used with the crane. Rigging can be made of synthetic nylon, wire rope, a chain or a designed piece of rigging equipment used specifically for one type of load. The most common rigging sling is the chain sling. The crane rigging school trains the rigger in the different methods of attaching a load to the crane using the different slings. These methods include the choke method, straight hook method or any number of sling hooking methods. The school teaches the rigger the way to properly select a sling for different loads. The Crane Inspection and Certification Bureau (CICB) has the oldest independent rigging school and trains crane operators, riggers and inspectors.
A good rigging school trains the rigger or rigging student on weight calculations. Each load needs to have the weight calculated unless the weight is listed somewhere on the load. Riggers must know how to calculate the weight of a load to ensure they are utilizing the proper rigging technique, sling or attachment to rig the load to the crane. Overloading rigging can cause major damage to the load and the structure as well as harm to the workers around the crane. The rigger must also take into consideration the legs on a sling, center of gravity, load charts of the crane and other calculations when determining how to attach a load to a crane.
All good rigging schools train the rigger on how to perform a safety inspection on the equipment being used. Safety training is a required course in crane rigging because of the weight of the loads being lifted. The safety factor of each piece of rigging hardware like the eye bolts, slings, shackles, hooks and the inspection of each piece of hardware. The safety equipment used by a rigger such as gloves or hardhat and what government regulations pertain to crane rigging and what those regulation require. All these safety factors must be taught at the crane rigging school. The Crane School has a certified course for rigging safety from the basic classes to the supervisors courses; this school trains students in different rigging aspects.
One type of crane rigging school that is overlooked in many industries is the crane rigging inspector. Both CICB and Crane Tech have specific courses and certifications for crane rigging inspectors. A rigger can be a certified crane rigging inspector, but is generally trained only in the daily inspection required before use of the rigging. A crane rigging inspector is trained on different inspection methods and tools used for rigging inspections such as calipers and nondestructive testing devices. The rigging inspector is also taught about the different types of rigging used on each type of crane.