Positive Resolution on Crane Operator Qualifications Expected in 2016

December 1, 2015 - In October, NCCCO held its first Industry Forum on Personnel Qualifications, an event focused on the qualification of personnel working in construction.

 

Held in Washington DC, the forum featured presentations from OSHA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as industry experts. Operator qualifications were a major theme of presentations respectively by Jim Maddux, director of OSHA’s Directorate of Construction, and Al Wong, construction/operations program manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who was aided by Jerry Balcom, recently retired USACE loss control program manager.

 

Maddux confirmed that OSHA was continuing to work on a proposed rulemaking on the crane operator qualifications issue, and there would be positive resolution in 2016. After he was asked whether OSHA’s proposed language would be based on the draft submitted to the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) committee earlier this year, Maddux said the feedback OSHA had received ensured that the language proposed will be different than the draft.

 

Wong and Balcom outlined some of the newer provisions of the recently released edition of the USACE EM-385 Safety and Health Requirements Manual, and they announced that the Corps was moving away from wholesale revisions of the manual in favor of ongoing updates. “In the future, it will be like a living document,” said Balcom. The new process would allow changes to be made section by section or even by page, with an explanation of why the change had been made, he said.

 

Industry experts Hank Dutton, technical specialist, construction for Travelers Insurance, and Ray Feidt, inspection/training manager, Stephenson Equipment Inc., also emphasized the importance of appropriate credentials for those engaged in lift planning and crane inspection, respectively.

 

Dutton noted that OSHA, which references lift directors no less than 44 times in its Compliance Directive, had now begun issuing citations to employers who had not designated individuals to that function on their jobsites.

 

Also featured at the Forum were presentations on developments in regulatory affairs relating to personnel qualifications at state, federal, and international levels provided by NCCCO staff, along with reports on test integrity and certification program development.

 

The Industry Forum on Personnel Qualifications was designed as an interactive event, with questions of the presenters being invited from the floor. “Many in the industry do not often get the chance to meet and discuss one-on-one with those in federal government who make and/or enforce the standards employers have to comply with,” said Joel Oliva, NCCCO’s director of operations. “The NCCCO Industry Forum provided just such an opportunity.”