OSHA publishes updates to crane operator certification requirements

OSHA published the long-delayed updates to its crane operator certification requirements in the Nov. 9 Federal Register.

As was expected, the agency will require certification by type of crane, and will accept certification by crane type and its lifting capacity. OSHA originally sought to certify operators solely by crane type and capacity in 2010.

That certification requirement was supposed to go into effect in 2014, but the agency later discovered that two of the four accredited testing services were issuing certifications for type of crane rather than type and capacity. The new rule specifies that certification/licensing must be accomplished via an accredited testing service, an independently audited employer program, military training, or compliance with qualifying state or local licensing requirements.

Most of the new final rule will go into effect Dec. 9, except for requirements that employers evaluate crane operators and document those evaluations. The latter requirements will take effect Feb. 7, 2019.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.