Crane supervisor
Also called CS
The person on site responsible for directing the crane operation once the lift plan has been approved by the appointed person, including confirming the crane is correctly positioned, ballasted and set up before lifting begins. On smaller or more straightforward lifts, the appointed person and crane supervisor may be the same individual.
In practice
The crane supervisor is where a matting specification stops being paper. Checking that the mats specified are the mats present, that each foot is centred on its pad, that the outriggers are fully extended to the planned configuration and that nothing has been set over a cover or a soft patch is a set-up check nobody else is positioned to make.
Where this comes from: UK lifting operations practice as contractors operate it. This describes the role in use on site; it is not a statutory definition.
Where it matters on site
It is also the role that sees the ground behave. Settlement during rigging, a foot bedding in further than the others, a mat rocking on an uneven surface — these appear before the lift and are the clearest evidence that the assumptions behind the plan do not match the site. Treating them as a reason to stop and refer back is the difference the role exists to make.