Add your voice to the sound of the crowd

On 9 July 2020, in a united call to action, the world’s lifting community is invited to come together to celebrate our industry for Global Lifting Awareness Day #GLAD2020.

Spearheaded by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), Lift & Hoist International (LHI) and Public Relations consultancy Bridger Howes, the #GLAD2020 initiative is designed to raise the perception of a sector that often goes unnoticed by end-users, supply chains and industry and governing bodies the world over.

By using the #GLAD2020 hashtag across digital platforms and social media, companies, associations and their members can get behind the campaign by posting good-news stories, images, memes and videos, to share examples of the things we are ‘GLAD’ about. The #GLAD2020 logo can also be freely downloaded from the LEEA website (www.leeaint.com) and used on email signatures, websites and adverts, which will help to raise our collective profile.

“#GLAD2020 will be a very important day for the global lifting industry,” says LEEA CEO Ross Moloney. “All too often our industry is hidden, ignored or unrecognised by end-users and certainly by some of the supply chains that we serve. #GLAD2020 is about getting the whole industry and the associated supply chains to recognise and promote the importance of high standards in lifting, the significance of quality and how to ensure lifting best practice.”

All involved know that ours is a diverse sector fused by the sole act of lifting products and people safely and securely. Whether a task employs an overhead travelling crane, spreader beam, hoist, minicrane, forklift truck, reachstacker or a mobile elevated work platform (possibly all of the above), specialist materials handling is at the beating heart of so many industries that keep our lives and livelihoods intact. Without the Lifting Sector our world would be a very different place – one less connected, efficient and productive.

Although we know this, our industry with its plethora of products and services and their countless applications, continues to go unrecognised by most unless maybe it is a tower crane silhouetted on a city skyline. The simple truth is, our lives and global commerce just would not function without the expertise and professionalism of this pervasive and essential service.

#GLAD2020 is our opportunity to start changing that perception and to bring our industry to the fore. With your help, the lifting sector can rise up, trend for a day and receive the limelight it deserves.

Mark Bridger of Bridger Howes says, “We invite everybody to join in with #GLAD2020 on 9 July 2020. This is all about bringing the industry together to tell the world about high standards and the things in lifting they are ‘GLAD’ about – such as innovation, standards, collaboration, technological change or even something lifting related you’ve seen, that has amused you.”

Those who read our Leadership Issue (May 2020), will have been heartened by the response of many companies across the lifting sector to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did eminent industry leaders share advice on how they are navigating the current crisis, but LHI reported on inspiring examples of how the industry continues to deliver and serve crucial frontline services – moving essential medical and food supplies, maintaining communications and energy infrastructure, assisting in the building of temporary hospitals and turning over their manufacturing processes to create ventilators, supplying masks and other personal protection equipment.

These are excellent examples that can be shared on #GLAD2020.

LHI’s publishing director Guy Harris says, “Undoubtedly this is an industry of which all who are involved in it can be proud. As the definition of ‘glad’ is feeling pleasure or happiness, we should all be willing to share it.

“On a practical level, we want to see your messages, with the #GLAD2020 hashtag, to drive home the essential role lifting plays across so many industries and best practice critical to avoid risk of injury.”

Anyone typing #GLAD2020 into their search engine will already notice the pages of links dedicated to the initiative. A wide range of associations and publishing companies are behind the drive and have reported it to their members and audiences. Companies synonymous with the sector are also spreading the word. All recognise it is about the greater good and publicly presenting a united front.

So, we ask you to post relevant, factual and fun data about the sector everywhere – all day. Stay consistent and always use the hashtag, go live on social media – it will get you noticed. You can always recycle existing content from your social media feeds. Find creativity in detail and explain the relationship and your real-life experiences. It will help create and captivate a collective audience and get the industry trending.

The important thing is to keep momentum and together we will bring lifting into the spotlight: giving our industry the focus it deserves.

LHI invites all lifting organisations and businesses to send us their stories so we can report them on our websites and social media feeds leading up to, and on, 9th July 2020. Why not send us your videos so we can share them on our YouTube channel. Or talk to us about ideas you may have to promote #GLAD2020.