Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer
If you have ever watched a lift sit waiting till half ten while the paperwork gets finished, or wondered why so many good crane people freeze at the thought of the appointed person course, this episode is for you.
In this episode, Kevin Bennison joins Gavin Coyle. Kevin is the founder of InspHigher, a lifting operations trainer, former soldier and lifelong learner with over 25 years across the lifting industry. He joined the Army in 1995 as a plant operator in the Royal Engineers and earned his wings as an airborne soldier, then spent 10 years on mobile cranes, became an appointed person in 2005, self-funded his way into training in 2010 and started InspHigher in 2020. Today most of his work is non-accredited training built around what organisations and their people actually need: advanced AP, management of lifting operations, and helping supervisors pass knowledge on to their teams.
You'll learn:
- The maths reassurance: if you can work out your weekly wage with overtime, you can do the AP course
- The VARK learning styles, and why site teams keep getting trained the wrong way for how they actually learn
- The paperwork problem: lifts starting at 10:30 instead of 8:30
- The 10-year-old and the crane: stopping a load strike is trained behaviour, not a document
- Start with supervision, get that right and everything else gets easier
- 85-90 hour weeks, no freedom, and "don't let the story stop you"
Episode Highlights / Timestamps (54:56 total)
· 00:00 Coming up
· 00:51 Welcome Kevin
· 03:49 Joining the Army
· 05:36 Starting InspHigher
· 09:37 Is the AP course really that tough
· 13:13 "If you can calculate your weekly wage..."
· 15:42 The VARK model
· 17:58 What an AP earns
· 21:10 85-90 hour weeks
· 22:18 "The outer voice becomes the inner dialogue"
· 24:23 Crane companies questioned on lift plans
· 33:39 Lifts starting at 10:30 instead of 8:30
· 35:59 The 10-year-old who could stop the crane
· 39:12 Devil's advocate: pay and agency labour
· 46:49 Start with supervision
· 51:04 Favourite books
· 53:11 Where to find Kevin
· 54:14 Wrap
Connect with Kevin Bennison
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kevinbennison
- InspHigher: insphigher.co.uk
- InspHigher YouTube: youtube.com/@InspHigher
Mentioned: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey), The Way of the Hermit (Ken Smith), the VARK model, CPCS/NPORS
About Coyle Group
Coyle Group provides safety outsourcing and managed services for high-impact projects across wind, utilities, power generation, engineering, and construction.
With over 25 years of experience, 100+ safety professionals, and more than 1 million safety hours completed, Coyle Group helps organisations deliver projects safely and compliantly.
Learn more:
https://coyle-group.com/
About the Podcast
I'm The Gaffer, hosted by Gavin Coyle, features conversations with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and subject matter experts covering construction, engineering, leadership, business growth, safety, procurement, project delivery, and workplace culture.
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