Industry stakeholders say OSHA has devised too uniform a standard in the agency's sweeping new regulations on safe operations of cranes and derricks, contending the final rule does not fully take into account the diversity of construction activities. OSHA published the regulation July 28, unveiling a major overhaul of the nearly 40-year-old crane rule to address technology advances and longstanding safety concerns.
The rule, which OSHA estimates will affect 257,000 construction cranes and 4.8 million workers, makes a host of changes to the old cranes and derricks standard. Among the most talked about are mandates for operator certification for virtually all types of cranes. But the agency won't require employers to certify riggers and signalmen through a third party, instead requiring those workers to meet qualifications defined in the standard.
The regulation, which only affects construction activities, takes effect 90 days from the formal publication on Aug. 9, though the federal OSHA certification requirement for crane operators can be met within up to four years from the rule taking effect. State-plan states have six months to update their rules on cranes and derricks to meet federal OSHA approval.
OSHA published the final new cranes and derricks standard -- intended to modernize regulations issued shortly after the agency was created -- after proposing a rule following several years of meeting with stakeholders in a protracted negotiated rulemaking. But the end result of that long process did not satisfy everyone.
A construction industry official said the rule looks fairly similar to what OSHA had proposed but said the regulation still treats all size crane operations the same, including smaller types that weigh a couple hundred pounds, in contrast to a 20-ton steel beam in place in a major metropolitan area for example. "We wanted the certification to reflect those differences," the official said. "Everybody is third-party certified."
That criticism also resonated with an industry attorney who told Inside OSHA the rule suffers from a "one size fits all" approach. "There's a myriad of different cranes out there." The attorney did acknowledge the agency provided some exceptions, with regard to knuckle boom cranes, for example, for activities that deliver products to work sites but are not engaged in actual construction work at those sites. "There was some attempt to accommodate it." Exclusions are detailed in the scope section of the rule preamble.
Some stakeholders expected the agency to issue certification requirements for riggers and signalmen when updating the standard, though organized labor had concerns about the costs of obtaining worker certifications. At the same time the construction sector took exception with the scope of the rule covering all types of cranes.
"They had a few clarifications on crane operator certification. We didn't have a dog in that fight," said Frank Migliaccio, executive director of safety and health at Ironworkers International. But the union did have strong opinions against rules mandating the rigger and signalman certification, saying it would cost members millions of dollars. "We didn't want to change to be certified by the third party. We were all a little hesitant."
In a Web chat on July 28, OSHA said several other provisions were added or revised since the rule was proposed. Among them, employers must pay for the cost of certification for operators they employ on the effective date of the final rule, and the test may be administered in a language understood by the candidate. Employers must comply with local and state licensing laws which will be considered to meet requirements of the final rule, OSHA said.
OSHA chief David Michaels, who called the rule a historic new standard, told reporters in a conference call July 28 the goal of the standard is keeping cranes, loads and workers in the places they are intended. Michaels said the rule makes several major changes in the areas of training requirements; crane work near power lines; and operator certification requirements.
Michaels said it took several years to issue the standard for two reasons -- the complexity of the standard as well as differences in the leadership of the Labor Department between administrations. "We saw the importance of these standards and with the assistance of a very able staff were able to move this I think very quickly."
In the Web chat with stakeholders, OSHA clarified that the regulation will not alter the general industry standards regarding cranes, and the rule will apply to maritime operations when cranes are performing construction activities, with exceptions covered under the scope. Crane operators in a plant will not be affected as long as they are not engaged in construction-related activities.
General contractors can be held responsible for compliance with OSHA rules. The agency said it will address specific requests for interpretations of the standard through its normal process.
The rule also addresses crane operators' spoken languages. Operators who only speak Spanish or another language other than English can operate cranes under the standard if they are certified. The agency said it expects training to be provided in other languages as appropriate, and the rule provides that non-English speaking operators will have the ability to become certified using other languages.
OSHA further said it's developing a compliance directive in a series of guidance and outreach documents that will be available before the standard goes into effect, and each OSHA region will also hold training and outreach sessions. -- Christopher Cole