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GLAD 2021 to raise awareness of lifting industry through social media

The lifting sector is a good example of an essential industry, that despite existing in plain sight to professionals, there is little or no perception of it among the wider world. Global Lifting Awareness Day, or GLAD as it is appropriately known, was born through key stakeholders coming together and deciding on a day dedicated to celebrating the lifting and working-at-height sector.

“Lifting is a key role in the supply chains of many industries. Wherever goods, products, materials or people are moved, lifting equipment is involved,” said Ross Moloney, CEO of Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA). “With lifting, there is an inherent on-going battle between mankind and gravity. As we reach higher and further, the challenges become ever greater, involving more complexity and danger. By highlighting the importance of high standards, safe practices and technological innovation we can showcase to end-users how important safe lifting is in their own sectors.

“The Lifting Industry wants to attract the next generation of recruits into this incredible sector. But it is also crucial that we remind end-users of how important it is to use high-quality suppliers who utilise years of experience and high-quality training, and who routinely develop innovative and thoughtful solutions,” said Maloney.

Moloney said through GLAD the industry can highlight to policymakers the need for them to recognise and support the role in improving health and safety across numerous key industries. He also said GLAD is a great chance for everyone to celebrate the incredible role our industry has performed and continues to play

The first GLAD took place on July 9, 2020.

“GLAD was conceived before the pandemic, but the Covid crisis gave the day an extra impetus to boost the sector and it was a tremendous success,” said Moloney. People took to social media in their droves to post messages proclaiming what makes them glad to be in the industry. There were almost 1000 individual and original mentions of #GLAD2020 across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

There are even greater expectations for this year’s GLAD. Taking place on July 8, 2021, companies and individuals will again be able to highlight what they do and the importance of skills, competence and innovation. With vaccine rollouts well underway, there’s sure to be a mood of optimism among the messages.

Here are some suggestions of what to post:

• lifting videos
• lifting projects
• awards
• speaking on video
• infographics
• safety content
• trade show coverage
• anything related to the lifting industry

“This isn’t about any single company or organization—it is an industry day. Posting messages using the GLAD logo, which is also available to download at leeaint.com, together with hash-tagging GLAD2021 will help to raise our collective voices and drive greater awareness of our vital sector,” said Moloney.