July 28, 2004—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced that its Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (CDAC) has reached consensus on language for a revised crane and derrick standard for construction. The draft will be submitted to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health and will continue through the rulemaking process.
Key provisions of the C-DAC proposal include:
- The scope section covers a wide range of new types of cranes that have been developed over the past 30 years.
- A qualified person must address a list of key hazards associated with equipment assembly and disassembly.
- Ground conditions must be made adequate for crane set-up to help prevent tip-overs.
- In order to prevent electrocution, a leading cause of crane-related fatalities, employers must choose from a list of options for ensuring that equipment does not come within a prescribed distance of power lines. When working closer than that distance, a specified list of measures must be taken.
- After a phase-in period, crane operators will have to be certified by either: (1) any crane operator testing organization approved by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, or (2) the employer’s own qualification program, which must be audited by a testing organization-approved auditor.
- Signal persons must meet specified qualification requirements.
- Safety devices, operational aids, signals, specific types of equipment (such as derricks and tower cranes), inspections, wire rope, prototype design and testing, crushing and overhead hazards, fall protection, and equipment modification are also addressed.
