Rigger (modern usage)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Historically, a rigger was a person who worked with ropes for hoisting the sails of a ship. Today, a rigger is a person or company which specializes in the lifting and or moving of extremely large and/or heavy objects.
Riggers tend to be highly specialized to moving jobs that cannot be accomplished by ordinary means and use equipment expressly designed for moving and lifting objects weighing hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds in places where ordinary material handling equipment cannot go.
Because of the highly specialized nature of the work riggers do, it is one of the few remaining occupations that can only be learned by apprenticeship. Riggers must work together as a cohesive team and there must be an environment of trust among riggers because of the potentially dangerous nature of rigging.
