How push-pull load control tools help workers guide suspended loads, control drift and position ferrous, non-ferrous and coated loads while keeping hands away from line-of-fire, struck-by and final landing hazards.
Unlike magnetic tools, push-pull tools do not rely on magnetic attachment. They engage loads through physical contact — a hook catches a lip or edge, a cup seats against a surface, a pad bears against a face. This makes them effective across ferrous and non-ferrous materials, coated surfaces, and objects where magnetic engagement is unreliable or unavailable.
The tool transfers the worker's guiding, correcting, and steering force to the load through the handle rather than through the hand. The handle length determines the separation distance. The head type determines how force is applied and in which directions the tool is effective.
During any lift, the load is under full crane or hoist control for the majority of its travel. The exposure window is narrow but consistent: it occurs when the load decelerates toward its destination and the worker moves in to guide the final metres of travel and the last few millimetres of placement.
At that moment, the worker's instinct is to place a hand on the load — to push it left, pull it toward the target, or hold it steady against drift. That instinct is correct in intent and dangerous in execution. The hand in contact with a moving load, however slowly it is moving, is a hand inside the exposure zone.
Push-pull tools extend across the full travel range of a load guidance task: from initial steering during crane travel, through rotation and direction change, to the final controlled push or pull onto the landing point. They are the primary hand safety control for loads that cannot be magnetically engaged.
A push-pull load control tool is a long-handled device with a non-magnetic contact head — typically a hook, cup, pad, or formed tip — designed to apply directional force to a load during movement, guidance, and final placement while keeping the worker's hands outside the load contact zone.
| Control Category | Distance Creation Controls — Chapter DC |
| Primary Function | Guiding, pushing, pulling, steering and positioning loads without direct hand contact on the load surface |
| Exposure Reduction Mechanism | Physical separation — the tool handle keeps hands away from line-of-fire, struck-by, drift, swing and final landing exposure zones |
| Control Level | Engineering — distance is created by the tool geometry, not by worker attention alone |
| Best Use Case | Suspended load guidance, non-ferrous load positioning, coated load handling, offshore deck cargo, pipe handling and crane landing tasks |
| Chapter | Chapter 1 — Distance Creation Controls |
During any lift, the load is under full crane or hoist control for the majority of its travel. The exposure window is narrow but consistent: it occurs when the load decelerates toward its destination and the worker moves in to guide the final metres of travel and the last few millimetres of placement.
At that moment, the worker's instinct is to place a hand on the load — to push it left, pull it toward the target, or hold it steady against drift. That instinct is correct in intent and dangerous in execution. The hand in contact with a moving load, however slowly it is moving, is a hand inside the exposure zone.
Push-pull tools extend across the full travel range of a load guidance task: from initial steering during crane travel, through rotation and direction change, to the final controlled push or pull onto the landing point. They are the primary hand safety control for loads that cannot be magnetically engaged.
The historical method for guiding suspended loads during crane travel and final landing was direct hand contact. Workers stood beside or in front of the load, placed hands on the load surface, and steered it by pushing or pulling with arms extended. This was considered correct technique — the worker was "in control" of the load by virtue of being in direct contact with it.
The following are examples of this control method in current industrial use. The control method is the subject — the product is the answer.
"The hand's instinct to guide the load is correct. The hand's position — on the load — is not. The tool exists to honour the instinct without paying the price."
Send PSC Hand Safety a task photo or short video. We will help identify whether a push-pull load control tool, magnetic tool, tagline, distance tool, fixture, or custom interface is suitable for reducing hand exposure.