OSHA Plans to Re-Open the Crane Rule to Review Crane Certification Requirements

Issue Discussed Last Week at OSHA Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health Meeting On May 22, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced plans to extend the compliance date for its crane operator certification requirement to Nov. 10, 2017, in order to re-open the record on operator certification.OSHA’s announcement states that the additional three years would provide time to partially re-open the crane rule to address industry concerns in regards to the agency’s position on certifying by “type and capacity” and to further examine whether certification is equivalent to qualification. Members of the Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee (C-DAC), which was established by OSHA to create the new crane standard, have also repeatedly stated that it was not their intent to require operators to be certified by capacity in the way OSHA is now interpreting it. During the most recent meeting of the OSHA Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) held May 23-24, 2013, this specific issue was discussed at length by the committee.  In its consideration of OSHA’s request for its proposal, ACCSH made an alternate recommendation that would replace the extended deadline of Nov. 10, 2017, with a request that the crane operator certification requirements be suspended until OSHA has completed its rulemaking on operator certification and qualification. ACCSH also recommended that OSHA continue to require employers to follow the existing phase-in (1926.1427(k)) criteria in the interim.  OSHA plans to announce their final decision in the coming weeks. AGC will continue to monitor and update members on the status of the initial OSHA proposal, as well as that of the recommendation put forth by ACCSH. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Cannon at (703) 837-5410 or cannonk@agc.org.