House Committee Pushes OSHA to Address Operator Certification Delays
February 12, 2015 – SC&RA reports that the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce wrote to OSHA, noting concerns the committee has about delays in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction regulation implementation process. The House committee addressed the letter to David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, urging him to consider the recommendations of all stakeholders.
SC&RA is a charter member of the Coalition for Crane Operator Safety (CCOS), along with Associated Equipment Distributors; Association of Equipment Manufacturers Associated General Contractors of America; International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union; International Union of Operating Engineers; NationsBuilders Insurance Services, Inc.; National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators; National Center for Construction Education and Research; and Operating Engineers Certification Program.
The letter referred to the new safety rule that was finalized on Aug. 9, 2010, and included revised requirements for crane operator certification based on type and capacity. Because the 17 states and six cities with mandatory crane certification do not use capacity as the criteria, CCOS suggests that without clarification, as many as 100,000 certified crane operators might not be qualified under the current regulatory language, noted the House Committee. The letter further pointed out that OSHA extended the implementation deadline for crane operator certification from Nov. 10, 2014 to Nov. 10, 2017 in an apparent effort to fix a flaw related to how a crane operator is “deemed qualified.”
“It is unclear if OSHA has aligned enforcement guidance within the three year delay,” wrote Minn. Rep. John Kline (R), Chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Mich. Rep. Tim Walberg (R), Chair of the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. “Further, the delay may result in fewer individuals enrolling in training courses, which is clearly not the desired result of the 2010 standard.”
The committee urged OSHA to work with stakeholders to resolve the discrepancies and “to ensure enforcement guidance is consistent with the implemented delay” until the agency is able to fix the outstanding certification issues, according to SC&RA.
