Construction Risk Blog

New OSHA Ruling on Construction Crane Safety

  

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Unfortunately, in the last three years, the construction industry as seen more crane related accidents than they would have liked.  Several of which were very preventable.  The most notorious of these crane accidents took place in Manhattan in March of 2008 when a 200 foot crane collapsed onto a building, completely decimating a townhouse and leaving 7 people dead.

And then in May of 2008, also in NYC, another collapse claimed the lives of two construction workers.The old OSHA rules for Crane and Derrick safety has been in place since 1971 and because of advances in technology and techniques, an overhaul was necessary and the very public crane constructoin incidents, unfortunately, were the impetus to speed up this overhaul.  Here are a few of the major updates that will come into effect at the end of the year.  To read the whole final ruling go HERE

A few highlights from osha.gov:

• The rule becomes effective 90 days after August 9, 2010, the date the final rule will be published in the Federal Register. Certain provisions have delayed effective dates ranging from 1 to 4 years.
• A copy of the regulatory text is available at: http://www.osha.gov/doc/cranesreg.pdf
• Until the date of publication, the full rule, including the preamble, can be found at http://www.ofr.gov/inspection.aspx. After publication, the rule can be found at the Federal Register or at www.osha.gov.
• This new standard will comprehensively address key hazards related to cranes and derricks on construction worksites, including the four main causes of worker death and injury: electrocution, crushed by parts of the equipment, struck-by the equipment/load, and falls.
• Significant requirements in this new rule include: a pre-erection inspection of tower crane parts; use of synthetic slings in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions during assembly/disassembly work; assessment of ground conditions; qualification or certification of crane operators; and procedures for working in the vicinity of power lines.
• This final standard is expected to prevent 22 fatalities and 175 non-fatal injuries each year.
• Several provisions have been modified from the proposed rule. For example:
  • Employers must comply with local and state operator licensing requirements which meet the minimum criteria specified in § 1926.1427.
  • Employers must pay for certification or qualification of their currently uncertified or unqualified operators.
  • Written certification tests may be administered in any language understood by the operator candidate.
  • When employers with employees qualified for power transmission and distribution are working in accordance with the power transmission and distribution standard (§ 1910.269), that employer will be considered in compliance with this final rule's requirements for working around power lines.
  • Employers must use a qualified rigger for rigging operations during assembly/disassembly.
  • Employers must perform a pre-erection inspection of tower cranes.
• This final rule requires operators of most types of cranes to be qualified or certified under one of the options set forth in § 1926.1427. Employers have up to 4 years to ensure that their operators are qualified or certified, unless they are operating in a state or city that has operator requirements.
• If a city or state has its own licensing or certification program, OSHA mandates compliance with that city or state's requirements only if they meet the minimum criteria set forth in this rule at § 1926.1427.
• The certification requirements in the final rule are designed to work in conjunction with state and local laws.
• This final rule clarifies that employers must pay for all training required by the final rule and for certification of equipment operators employed as of the effective date of the rule
• State Plans must issue job safety and health standards that are “at least as effective as” comparable federal standards within 6 months of federal issuance. State Plans also have the option to promulgate more stringent standards or standards covering hazards not addressed by federal standards.
• OSHA will have additional compliance assistance material available within the next month.

Construction Risk Advisors has the ball rolling on Connecticut safety training for whatever needs our contractor clients have.  We will be upgrading our safety training options to include the new crane regs as soon as we can.  So, if you're reading this, and you own a crane or rigging company in Connecticut, give us a call to get you and your crew up to speed.  With the public crane incidents in the last 5 years, I have a hunch that OSHA is going to be very proactive in their enforcement of these new requirements.

Do you have any thoughts on the issue?  Think any of the new regs are too heavy handed?  Please leave a comment.  We would love for this blog to become a place where Connecticut construction companies can interact with each other about what is going on in their backyard as well as in their industry.