March 2015—The House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce, the committee that oversees OSHA’s activities, has written to Assistant Secretary David Michaels expressing concern about OSHA’s use of “capacity” in its crane operator certification requirements. Referring to the 17 states that regulate crane operators, Chairman John Kline (R–MN), stated, “none of these jurisdictions use capacity as the criteria as OSHA decided to do in the final rule.”
Moreover, the Committee noted that OSHA “has apparently recognized that the 2010 standard contained a flaw related to how a crane operator is ‘deemed qualified’.” Enforcement must also be addressed, the Committee stated. “Until such time as OSHA fixes the outstanding certification issues, the agency must ensure enforcement guidance is consistent with the implemented delay,” the Committee’s letter reads.
The letter also references the Coalition for Crane Operator Safety (CCOS) which sent a letter to Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez outlining a series of concerns related to crane operator qualification and certification, as well as the ongoing issue of whether certification should be based on the capacity of a crane or the type of crane in use.” NCCCO is a charter member of CCOS, a coalition of 10 industry organizations which was formed last year to encourage OSHA to work with industry to expedite corrections to its crane operator certification requirements. Read the letter.
For additional history on OSHA’s Crane Rule, see NCCCO’s OSHA Crane Rule Resource Center.