What a bad week,i work on a service base suppling an oilfield.last monday was told that all the security guards were trained banksman,teusday on site this guard banked me,using signals i had never seen.stopped and asked what he was doing,i got a rude reply saying he done the coarse, so being pigheaded when he started banking me again i put the trailor through a portacabin.the outcome i was to blame,i said no he should not have banked me whats do you say
When you say that you put the trailer through the portacabin, do you mean right through 
or did it just nudge it?
If you hit it out of pig headedness then its obviously your fault.
Are there any banksman hand signals I should know about? Stop, left, right, ‘keep coming’ are pretty obvious for anybody to get accross, but if anybody started giving me hand signals for anything else i’d be flummoxed to be honest. Never been backed in anywhere by a ‘trained banksman’, sounds like a right load of ■■■■■■■■.
We where trained banksmen in the army on the port but I have forgotten it all now, if some one is backing me in all I want to know is when to stop, I figure that’s the important bit 
Wonder if the security guard/banksman had been on the right course and not one for cranes… This becomes clear when they start giving you signals to jib up, jib down ,slew left right etc. Although I think the signal for stop is pretty much the same everywhere (two hands in the air and scream).
Talking of security I picked up an empty trailer the other day and security at the gate checked my paperwork and lifted the barrier- I was just about to pull off when I felt something that didn’t feel right (story of my life). I got out went round the back and a ‘new’ security guard had started to open the trailer doors not realising I had been given the all clear to leave.
I prefer them just to watch I don’t hit anything.
No amount of training will get around the idiot factor
Don’t be too hard on yourself about it. Some of these ‘Banksmen’ just can’t be trusted to be honest. It’s amazing that some of them would appear to choose to make the signals up as they go along. I once had one watch me reverse off a building site from a tight road into a major road. Usually I’d have reversed onto site, but for some reason I’d been asked to drive on and reverse off. Anyways, this ‘Banksman’ watched me reverse out, and eventually shouted “YEP!”, and put his thumb in the air. From this I kept reversing, and he kept on with the thumbs up and the “YEP!”. Next thing I felt a bit of pressure, and stopped. I walked to the back and he just informed me that I’d reversed into a van. Apparently it was my fault as he kept telling me “YEP!” and putting his thumb in the air for me to stop.
I already knew the Banksman procedures and signals from my days in the military. Just a pity I didn’t go to the same training facility as this moron. His boss wasn’t amused either. I made sure I got in there and had my version of the events put down before the blame was plonked in my lap.
From then on, I didn’t care if the Banksman had been suitably trained or not, I always made sure we both knew the terms for ‘STOP’. That way, no matter what else happens, I wasn’t likely to hit something.
if he was using signals you never seen then surely you should have stopped and asked and got clarification on what signal means what?
i,m sorry but to me what you have done isnt pig headiness bit stupid on your part! and if i was your boss you would be down the road… you didnt know what was in portakabin, behind it or around it and you say you work in an oil field surely safety is paramount??
Reubs766:
Don’t be too hard on yourself about it. Some of these ‘Banksmen’ just can’t be trusted to be honest. It’s amazing that some of them would appear to choose to make the signals up as they go along. I once had one watch me reverse off a building site from a tight road into a major road. Usually I’d have reversed onto site, but for some reason I’d been asked to drive on and reverse off. Anyways, this ‘Banksman’ watched me reverse out, and eventually shouted “YEP!”, and put his thumb in the air. From this I kept reversing, and he kept on with the thumbs up and the “YEP!”. Next thing I felt a bit of pressure, and stopped. I walked to the back and he just informed me that I’d reversed into a van. Apparently it was my fault as he kept telling me “YEP!” and putting his thumb in the air for me to stop.I already knew the Banksman procedures and signals from my days in the military. Just a pity I didn’t go to the same training facility as this moron. His boss wasn’t amused either. I made sure I got in there and had my version of the events put down before the blame was plonked in my lap.
From then on, I didn’t care if the Banksman had been suitably trained or not, I always made sure we both knew the terms for ‘STOP’. That way, no matter what else happens, I wasn’t likely to hit something.
Sorry to be blunt, but your a bit… dippy!
Reversing back and some one shouts Yep and puts his thumb up, which to me say’s, stop
To me it’s always said ‘clear’. . . As in it’s passed any obstacle, keep coming. . .
dont worry the hse will sort it out lolol
Why is he dippy, thumbs up means clear, It certainly does not mean stop.
Dafman:
Why is he dippy, thumbs up means clear, It certainly does not mean stop.
Cheers Dafman. For a moment there I thought I was losing the plot. I suppose anybody who doesn’t know the correct use of “your” and “you’re” probably isn’t worth arguing the point with though.
I would take a thumbs up as “Okay” and meaning clear.
Thumbs “Down” as too late you have hit it
mickyblue:
Sorry to be blunt, but your a bit… dippy!Reversing back and some one shouts Yep and puts his thumb up, which to me say’s, stop
Sorry to be even blunter, but you’re an idiot!
Since when does “Yep” mean stop?
“Stop” is the universal word for, well, stop. “Whoa” would be acceptable as an alternative, but never “Yep”.
Personally if someone was watching me back and put their thumbs up and shouted “Yep” I’d think they meant it was clear, but I have always wondered who’d be responsible if you were being shown back by somebody with a banksmans ticket. It must be the banksman or what is the point of them?
Found this on the HSE website, some seem to be crane signals, but might be useful reference.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/safetysigns/banksman/banksman.htm
I don’t know if the British military are the same signals as these, but the when I worked on a US Air Base they had slighty different signals, might be a US thing or they might have been using aircraft marshaling signals.
Not sure which way I would take a thumbs up when reversing could be a keep going or yep thats far enough easy to say sat here tho not so easy when your actually doing it.
Only 1 way to be sure get out and have a look.
If I need hand reversing in anywhere usually ring the shop and get the staff to watch me back probably not elf’&safety friendly but usually gets the job done, exeter being a good one middle of the pedestrian area have to pull into the road opposite then reverse across a road and thro an arch at 4pm Saturday afternoon how fun lol.
mickyblue:
Sorry to be blunt, but your a bit… dippy!Reversing back and some one shouts Yep and puts his thumb up, which to me say’s, stop
Huh?