February 7, 2014--The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a long-awaited proposed rule on Friday, February 7, 2014, that would extend the compliance date for its crane operator certification requirement by three years to Nov. 10, 2017. The proposal would also extend to the same date the existing phase-in requirement that employers ensure that their operators are qualified to operate the equipment. The 30-day comment period opens Monday, February 10.
The proposed rule had been expected since May 22, 2013, when OSHA first announced its intention to seek an extension to the deadline in order to partially re-open the rule to address industry concerns. At issue is whether or not certification is the only component of qualification that an employer has to meet, or if an employer must make additional determinations to achieve qualification. Also controversial is OSHA’s understanding of the C-DAC recommendation to issue certifications “by type and capacity.” Both are likely to be addressed in a further rulemaking that would be published by year-end.
Link to OSHA press release (2/7/2014).
Download PDF of proposed rule (13 mb).
Link to NCCCO's OSHA Rule Reopening Resource Center.