30.08.2017

OSHA delays crane operator certification - again

US safety agency OSHA has delayed the implementation of mandatory crane operator certification until November 2018.

The agency has published a proposed amendment today that includes a delay until November 17, 2018. To see the full text of the amendment click here.

It seems the text was finalised some time ago but when the Trump administration came into power it immediately froze all new regulation, and as the new proposal had not been passed by the Office of Management and Budget a delay was almost certain.

The amendment addresses the requirement for operators to be certified by both crane type and capacity - the origianl crane rule draftees had intended it to be by type only, but it was written up with type and capacity. The amendement also attempts to address competency in addition to simple certification.

This whole affair dates back to 2010 when OSHA introduced its Final Rule regulating cranes used in the construction industry - ‘Cranes and Derricks in Construction’.

In November 2012, the International Union of Operating Engineers petitioned OSHA to reverse and amend the capacity requirement into accepting certification by crane type only. The agency held stakeholder meetings in April 2013 to gather additional information, which resulted in it extending the compliance date for the crane operator certification and qualification by three years to November 10, 2017. During this three year period, it was the agency’s intention to develop a new standard or amendment that addressed operator qualification requirements including the role of operator certification.

Having published the amendment it now does not have enough time to solicit public comment and finalise a new rule by November, thus the additional one year delay. It is now accepting public comments until September 29th.

Vertikal Comment

This is a mess of the type that only governments and big associations/agencies can create. The pace of change is sclerotic and painful, the only good thing is that a majority of crane operators are now certified, although the bulk of those certifications are, we understand, by type only and so do not comply with the OSHA rule as initially published. Thus the amendment is critical for practical and financial reasons as well as being sensible.

As is often the case, best practice and legal risk have a more rapid effect than the actual regulation, and any crane owner or major construction site that allowed non certified crane operators, would face ruin in the case of a fatal accident involving a non-certified operator.

A year passes all too quickly.