Published: Tuesday, 05 September 2017 09:31 Written by Concrete News

Source: National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO), Fairfax, Va.

True to lifting equipment manufacturer and operator projections, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed a one-year extension of a November 2017 crane operator certification deadline. The additional time will allow agency staff to fix Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard language—added in 2011 and relating to certification by equipment type and capacity—while defining other requirements to ensure certified operators are qualified.

OSHA formalized the deadline in a Proposed Rule, “Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Operator Certification Extension,” opening it to public comment through November 10. NCCCO, along with the labor-management Coalition for Crane Operator Safety and many other stakeholders concur with the compliance deadline delay. Current language as interpreted by OSHA would not have the desired safety benefits, they note, and is not in line with the intent of the Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee (C-DAC) that wrote the original draft of the rule.