OSHA Announces Change to Crane Regs

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2018

U.S. workplace-safety regulators announced last week that they plan to change regulations regarding crane operation again after rulemaking nearly a decade ago that spawned confusion and controversy.

Thue, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Thue, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced late last week that it is now proposing a rule to clarify its crane operating regulations.

On Friday (May 18), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that "In addition to providing long-term clarity regarding crane operator certification requirements, the proposal reinstates the employer duty to ensure that a crane operator is qualified to safely operate equipment."

This clarity is in reference to the original Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard, issued in 2010, and two guideline deadline delays reaching back to 2014. The most recent delay, issued in November 2017, pushed back the deadline for crane operators to be certified in compliance with the rule to Nov. 10, 2018.

The new proposal would discontinue a 2010 requirement (29 C.F.R. 1926 Subpart CC), which never went into effect, that mandates that a crane operator certification must include the lifting capacity for which the operator was certified, a point of high contention when it was first proposed.

Comments on the proposal can be submitted electronically or by mail by June 20, 2018.