On Nov. 7, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published its final rule that clarifies certification requirements for crane operators, and maintains the employer’s duty to ensure that crane operators can safely operate the equipment. Under the final rule, employers are required to train operators as needed to perform assigned crane activities, evaluate them, and document successful completion of the evaluations. Employers who have evaluated operators prior to Dec. 9, 2018, will not have to conduct those evaluations again, but will only have to document when those evaluations were completed.
The rule also requires crane operators to be certified or licensed and receive ongoing training as necessary to operate new equipment. The final rule also revises a 2010 requirement that crane operator certification must specify the rated lifting capacity of cranes for which the operator is certified. Operators can now be certified based on the crane’s type and capacity, or type only. Compliant certifications that were already issued by type and capacity are still compliant under this final rule.
The final rule, with the exception of the evaluation and documentation requirements, will become effective on Dec. 9, 2018. The evaluation and documentation requirements will become effective on Feb. 7, 2019. AGC will provide more information as it continues to review the final rule.
For more information please contact Kevin Cannon at (703) 837-5410 or [email protected].