The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Aug. 9 issued a
final rule updating work practice, training and certification requirements for crane and derrick safety in the construction industry.
The biggest change to the 40-year-old standard is the requirement that all crane operators be certified and trained, either through an accredited testing organization, the U.S. military, a licensed government entity or an audited qualification program offered by the employer. The
National Center for Construction Education and Research Crane Operator Certification Program May 17 was recognized by OSHA as meeting the requirements for crane operator certification and training.
In addition, the final rule requires pre-erection inspection of tower crane parts; use of synthetic slings in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruction during assembly and disassembly; assessment of ground conditions; and that procedures be put in place for working in the vicinity of power lines.
After the introduction of the proposed rule, OSHA changed several major provisions and offered clarification on others in accordance with comments from the industry. One of the biggest clarifications is that OSHA’s rule does not preempt all state and local rules and ordinances. States and municipalities that currently have, or decide to implement, rules that are as effective as or more stringent than the federal rule will not be preempted.
Other changes from the proposed rule to the final rule include the requirement that employers pay for certification or qualification of currently uncertified or unqualified operators. The final rule also limits portability of training certifications to those administered by an accredited testing organization or the military (as long as the military certification meets the requirements of OSHA and the accredited testing organizations), eliminating the portability of certifications obtained through employer programs. The final rule also requires employers to use a qualified rigger for rigging operations during assembly/disassembly and to ensure that any signal person is qualified by either a third-party evaluator or the employer’s evaluator.
During the comment process, ABC asked OSHA to clarify the definition of “controlling entity.” The final rule defines a controlling entity as an employer that is a prime contractor, a general contractor, a construction manager or other legal entity which has overall responsibility for the construction project’s planning and completion. OSHA also clarified that while the controlling entity is required to take into account any information about the ground conditions that it is aware of in, the entity is not required to obtain information from another source.
In addition, the final rule requires employers to comply with the manufacturer’s guidelines on crane use and operation. Despite ABC’s request that OSHA maintain an online database of these manuals, under the final rule, employers are responsible for obtaining and following the guidelines for each crane used.
Contractors must be in compliance with the work practices portion of the OSHA rule 90 days after it was issued, which is Nov. 8, 2010, but have until Nov. 8, 2014 to comply with the operator training and certification requirements. State OSHA programs have six months after the rule was issued to bring their standards into compliance. Since the federal rule does not pre-empt state and local rules, contractors may have to comply with the federal rule until the state rule is in compliance and then should assess whether that rule is more stringent than the federal rule. OSHA also will still be able to use the multi-employer policy to issue citations under this rule.
To view OSHA fact sheet on the rule, click
here.
To view OSHA’s resource page, click
here.
To view a list of major changes between the proposed rule and the final rule, click
here.