Ashley Thacker

Established over 20 years ago, the Australian lifting house Ranger serves clients throughout the country from its offices in Sydney and Melbourne. The family-owned business has been a pioneer in its field and was the first in Australia to be awarded full membership of the global trade association, LEEA. Given the distances between inspection sites, […]

Rigging gear is particularly vulnerable in the event of shock loading. To begin to understand shock loading, we need to accept the definitions of ‘shock’ (a sudden or surprising event or occurrence) and ‘loading’ (the application of a load or force). Put the two together and we’ve got a scenario where a crane, hoist and […]

In the second part of a mini series about building a team, Ashley Thacker presents five important elements of a successful, long-term people development program. My last column in Lift & Hoist Australasia (LHA) magazine focussed on recruitment techniques and closed with references to the importance of nurturing talent and helping people grow in line […]

I have a lot of conversations with fellow business owners and managers here in Sydney and wider Australia. It’s fascinating to compare notes with peers who are experiencing the same challenges and notable that similar issues impact us all. Near the top of the list, especially for those of us plying our trade in a […]

Only when everybody takes responsibility for safety can we reduce accidents associated with lifting and rigging equipment. Pre-use inspection is a good place to start. A single item of rigging gear gets passed through many hands. It is manufactured, shipped, stored, distributed, probably stored again, and then used to connect a hook to a load. […]