"The whole idea of this is to provide a basic grounding that people can use as they see fit to supplement their own in-house needs," says Anderson.

As construction projects are placing more difficult demands on workers and lifting technology is becoming more complex, the need for knowledge transfer is critical, according to Zack Parnell, vice president and chief operating officer of Woodland, Wash.-based ITI.

"Keith believes that a rigging engineer has so much liability," says Parnell. "It's equivalent to a professional engineer designing a building. A building has to sustain people for decades; a lift also involves many people."

Parnell says he worked with Anderson and others for about a year to get the program off the ground. "If someone sat down to do the whole course, it would probably take them three to four weeks," explains Parnell, who adds that the course is seeking accreditation from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the U.K.'s Lifting Equipment Engineers Association. "Think of our program like an executive education course at Stanford," Parnell says.

The course is designed for two tracks, Parnell adds. The first track is for engineers who hold a bachelor's degree in civil or mechanical disciplines and are looking to learn more about rigging and load handling. The second track is for experienced managers who have never received a formal engineering education but are tasked to build, execute and oversee complex lift plans using a variety of equipment.

Glinski, who falls into the second group, has completed most of the course's first module, "Introduction to Rigging Engineering," which takes 24 hours and costs $1,795.

To complete the full coursework, students must sit through five core modules, plus two out of seven possible electives. The total cost, on average, is about $10,000.

The money is worth paying, Glinski says, because "you can't put a price on knowledge."