The lifting sector is a classic example of an essential and ubiquitous industry that, despite existing in plain sight, receives little broader attention or recognition. Yet wherever goods, products, materials or people are moved then lifting equipment is likely to be involved, which makes us a vital link in the supply chains of practically any industry you can name.
Our technical prowess has enabled us to reach higher and further, creating new challenges in the on-going battle between mankind and gravity, involving greater complexity and risk. This makes it imperative that we highlight to end users how important best practice, safe lifting and technological innovation is in their own sectors and put the vital contribution lifting makes to economies and society globally in the spotlight.
Chatting about this issue one day in a hotel lobby with other lifting industry stakeholders, the idea of an annual day dedicated to celebrating the lifting and working at height sector was conceived. And so Global Lifting Awareness Day, or GLAD as it is appropriately known, was born.
Plans were soon put in place. We wanted to use GLAD as a means of attracting the next generation of recruits into this incredible sector as well as to remind end users of the importance of using high quality suppliers who utilise experience, expertise and high-quality training, and who routinely develop innovative and thoughtful solutions.
In addition, GLAD should provide a platform for the industry to inform policymakers to recognise and support the role lifting plays in improving health and safety across numerous key industries.
At the beginning of March 2020, the inaugural annual Global Lifting Awareness Day was announced to take place on July 9, 2020.
Nobody could ever have imagined the impending turbulence as the Covid pandemic reared up soon after, sending the world into lockdown.
This unprecedented set of circumstances did, however, provide GLAD with extra impetus, giving a chance for the sector to also display its agility to overcome the challenges generated by the pandemic and transition to a new digital era. We all became proficient within online communication through platforms such as Zoom.
This all contributed to making GLAD2020 an unequivocal success. Around the world, individuals, companies and organisations shouted from the rooftops, or rather from their laptops, about their pride in their industry and how fundamental lifting is to everyday lives.
They took to social media in their droves to show their optimism for the future and post messages proclaiming what makes them glad to be in the industry across the platforms such as of Facebook, Twitter (now ‘X’), LinkedIn and Instagram.
The mould was cast, and even greater expectations were held for subsequent Global Lifting Awareness Days, with each year growing in terms of events, participants and impact.
LEEA itself has used GLAD to host digital roundtables, launch courses, present guidance videos, hold technical forums, introduce initiatives, and host webinars on topics such as apprenticeships, training, compliance and safety issues. Last year as part of our GLAD schedule of events, LEEA hosted a Lifting Industry event at the House of Commons with member companies, showcasing our industry to Members of Parliament.
We anticipate that #GLAD24, taking place on Thursday July 18, 2024, will raise our industry to even greater heights with more people taking part than ever.
LEEA’S #GLAD24 CAMPAIGN
This year LEEA has introduced an eyecatching campaign for #GLAD24 to help make lifting more relatable by showing everybody outside our industry how it has changed our world and continues to impact their everyday life.
The important campaign comprises a series of posters featuring a selection of lifting’s noteworthy achievements through the ages. They start by celebrating Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the renowned Victorian civil engineer behind landmark projects such as the Great Western Railway and the Clifton Suspension Bridge as well as the Great Western, Great Eastern and Great Britain steamships.
The series continues with Mary Macarthur of the National Federation of Women Workers who in 1910 led the women chain makers of Cradley Heath on strike to improve conditions and wages for woman in factories across the UK. A third poster features the Samson and Goliath cranes, which have been standing tall over the Belfast Skyline in the dockyard of iconic shipbuilders Belfast Harland and Wolff since 1969.
The lighter side of lifting is represented by Patrick Swayze holding Jennifer Grey aloft. This famous image from the classic 1987 film Dirty Dancing has well and truly entered pop culture.
Two further posters illustrate remarkable construction feats. In 2004, excavation work began for Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which currently stands as the tallest free-standing man-made structure in the world. And in 2020, as part of the renovations of the Tiffany & Co store in New York, the delicate process using three cranes to lift a mobile crane weighing over 66 tons up seven storeys in a busy Manhattan Street demonstrated the ingenious ways lifting can overcome challenges in construction. These are just some of the lifting achievements that have created our world today.
However, GLAD is not about any single company or organisation – it is an industry day. And being a global industry that extends from Alaska to New Zealand makes it a long day. Everyone with an interest in the lifting industry is encouraged to join the journey and support #GLAD24 by posting anything from written pieces to films, podcasts or interviews.
Let’s not forget, GLAD is a great chance for us all to celebrate the incredible role lifting continues to perform in creating the world around us. If we all post messages on social media with the GLAD24 hashtag, it really will help to raise our collective voices and drive greater awareness of our vital sector.
