New Crane Regulations

New Crane Regulations

Recently, the government and OSHA have decided to form a committee to change the existing standards for crane operation in an effort to keep workers and surrounding entities safe from crane failure.

In order to understand where the crane and safety industries are going, it’s important to understand where the road started. The most important and controversial changes that are going to be in effect starting November 8, 2010 are the standards held to the rigger, inspector and signalperson, as changed in CFR parts 1910 – 1926 of the OSHA regulations. The crane operator has increased standards but are not in full effect until 2014.

New Standards:

Here’s a quick overview of what the current standards are and how they’ll be changed with the new regulations.

Competent Person describes the standard each of these entities are held to currently. A competent person can recognize a hazardous condition and has the authority to stop the work until the unsafe condition is remedied.

Qualified Person will be recognized by the government, military, approved third parties, and employers audited by a third party. A qualified person has demonstrated knowledge, skill and an ability to solve problems in his or her field of expertise.

Certified describes the new standard held for the crane operators. This is a higher requirement and therefore the crane operators have a longer window to implement their certification from the time the regulations were passed.

Crane Operator is currently only held to a standard of being qualified or trained, but regulations aren’t clear. Though some states have a higher standard already (like California) these will all be superseded by the new Federal OSHA regulations on cranes. The government will give states the ability to make more stringent requirements as they see fit once the new law is in place.

Signalperson is currently only held to a standard of competent person. The new regulations will require that the rigger be qualified by a third party hired by his or her employer. This signalperson will often act as the eyes and ears of a crane operator during blind picks (where the operator has an obstructed view of the load) and thus has a job of increased importance.

Rigger is currently only held to a standard of competent person. New regulations will require a rigger to be qualified in order to perform any rigging on a project.

Inspector is currently only held to a standard of competent person. New regulations will require an inspector to be qualified similar to a rigger.

Observations

In light of the recent surge in crane accidents throughout the United States and the world, it’s been made clear that heightened crane regulations be put in place. What’s amazing is how low the current standards are for the key personnel involved in lifting a load. In all honesty, I can’t believe accidents like these have not been more commonplace.

The decision to increase the standard for these key entities didn’t come without a struggle. Money is always a key player when it comes to making changes in procedures that have long been the standard practice. Joseph Collins was a major purveyor in changing the current regulations and at a price that almost cost him his job and has probably cost him his reputation. ENR magazine put out a good editorial article on the subject, but there wasn’t a deep exploration of the potential cost impacts of the new regulations. Although, the cost of saving a life is priceless, right?

Electrical Crane Safety

Essentially the new crane regulations affect people in the industry as well as the procedures. For so long, the rule of thumb was to keep a safe 10′ distance from power lines while using power equipment. That distance has now changed as part of the new regulations.

Now, the distance a crane should maintain from power lines below 350 kV has increased to 20 feet. Also, no part of the crane should be assembled, operated or disassembled below power lines. The one concession given in these statements applies if the utility owner proves that the line has been de-energized and that the line is visibly grounded on the site.

There should be visible signs posted at the site of the crane and its operations to ensure the operator is aware of nearby lines. Other smart ways of keeping a safe distance could mean use of a spotter (must be qualified similar to a rigger), painted lines on the ground or stanchions. There are also alarm devices that could be used to warn the operator to stop all movement based on proximity.

Some cranes can be grounded, but this is not always the case. If, by chance, the crane comes in contact with a power line, the operator should be strongly discouraged from leaving the cabin and should never touch both the crane and the ground at the same time, as this creates a path for electricity to travel – through a person’s body, which usually ends in death.

There have been documented instances of a crane touching a power line with the operator exiting the vehicle safely (the two feet method of basically hopping free of the equipment and landing with both feet on the ground simultaneously). This is because the operator was thoroughly trained on the subject and knew how to proceed.