LEEA builds #GLAD2024 content to finale

The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has revealed more plans for Global Lifting Awareness Day (GLAD) on 18 July.

A multidimensional campaign has been running since the turn of the year, with LEEA members, manufacturers, and suppliers leading those sharing material that promotes safe and high quality load lifting across the world. Social media posts, videos, articles, and in-person activity are bound together by the hashtag, #GLAD2024. However, it all builds to a crescendo and will once again come together on a single day.

Ross Moloney, CEO at LEEA, said: “This year’s GLAD will be successful in part because of what’s been happening already. Social media is awash with #GLAD2024 content; we’re smarter and more savvy now than when we launched the concept in 2020. Our industry’s social media teams are surely among the best there are. We have meaningful words, great stories, and sensational images.

“It is a campaign where people are being innovative, and it feels more like a show-and-tell this year rather than just a tell. The poster campaign that LEEA has put out is an example of that, looking at where we’ve come from and wondering where we’ll go next. We will continually launch content in the run-up to encourage people to create their own material — and I’m thrilled at the number of companies who tell me what they’re planning.

“That said,” he continued, “The epicentre is very much 18 July and we’re saving some new material from LEEA for the day itself. Last year, industry will remember that we hosted an in-person event in the Palace of Westminster. This year, we are going heavy on social media content. We will be sharing incredible video content, which really showcases how fascinating and diverse we are.”

Lifting power

Among on-the-day highlights are a new LEEA film and an unaired conversation with Moloney. Other features will include a series of short video interviews with a representative of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific activity; a champion of women in construction, and ambassador for apprenticeships, cranes, skills, and training; a celebrated health and safety professional; and a Tier 1 construction contractor.

Moloney said: “Those of us who work in the industry know how broad we are in terms of footprint, but others maybe don’t understand how technical we are. Irrespective of what you do in the sector, you’re only doing it because somebody somewhere innovated and took us where we didn’t think we could go. So, we’re going to introduce some of the people who are working right now on innovation and development.”

Everything builds on established #GLAD2024 foundations of high quality products, inspection, and training; and a legacy of LEEA’s organisational vision to eliminate accidents, injuries, and fatalities, placing further emphasis on skills and employment, which had emerged as front-running themes when the fifth GLAD drive was launched.

“Quality products, inspection, and training could easily be the LEEA strapline,” said Moloney. “GLAD is about awareness of the industry, but LEEA maintains its messages. Our determination for a safe industry depends on quality and prestige. The way we do safety means it’s not about hampering or getting in the way. We enable. I think of the idea that cars only go faster because of the improvement in brakes and safety measures. Airbags don’t stop cars from going faster. By improving safety, we create the environment for higher, further, more complex.

“Trust me, when you see our video content on 18 July, there will be no doubt how professional, how expert, and how exciting our industry is. The push never stops. We are all in this together. You don’t have to engage a filmmaker to participate. Using the hashtag matters. Reposting and sharing matters. This is a chance for us as an industry to unite and show our strength. It doesn’t mean we will ever stop competing with each other, but on 18 July we can unite and rise.”

Anyone interested in celebrating the lifting industry can pledge their support by completing a short form on the dedicated GLAD website https://globalliftingawarenessday.com/partner-form