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Expert urges construction industry to increase crane safety training efforts

Construction cranes are more likely to cause injuries and fatalities than any other type of equipment used in the industry. The American Society of Safety Engineers is urging construction employers to reexamine their safety programs and take steps to prevent these accidents >.

"A national crane operator certification requirement will certainly lead to safer crane operations," he said. "The first step is to ensure that operators are being properly trained before attempting to achieve certification."

Why do crane < accidents > occur? According to the ASSE, crane < accidents > are usually the result of failure to maintain the crane in a safe position; properly inspect the crane; properly calculate the load; rig the load properly; and manually compute the load as a check-and-control measure against the crane computer.

"When it comes to crane < accidents >, the obvious question is 'Why do these < accidents occur?'" Peters wrote. "After an accident, if you speak with an operator, investigative/review team or any observer in an effort to understand what happened and why, you will often find that the incident could have been prevented. Why, then, do so many crane incidents continue to occur? You can cite the typical laundry list of causes -- such as complacency, pressure to get the job done and wrong equipment. But in my experience, in most cases, the accident is a result of lack of training."

Certification must be coupled with training. Peters noted it is remarkable that with the inherent risks of the job, crane operators don't need to hold an official certification.

"You know, when my wife gets her nails done or hair cut, the individual providing the service has to hold a license," he wrote. "Yet, crane operators, who have the ability to hoist thousands of pounds of equipment hundreds of feet in the air, do not have to hold a recognized certification."

The ASSE has been active in pursuing a mandatory certification standard on the federal level. In 2004, the group's Crane and Derricks Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee completed its draft proposal for a revised crane and derrick standard for construction. The draft was then submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The draft standard would create a federal crane operator certification requirement. Peters said that to date, 14 states have enacted legislation to require operator certification, but current OSHA regulations contain no such provision. The existing rule for cranes and derricks in construction dates to 1971 and is based primarily on industry consensus standards published from 1967 through 1969.

Peters said that based on his experience, the crane operator certification requirement is much needed.

"In my case, my employer had a solid training program in place," he wrote. "Yet, when the state of California enacted a certification requirement, the firm began to prepare operators for the certification exams and found several training gaps that needed to be addressed. It is important to understand the difference between training and certification. Certification is not what makes an operator safe. What makes an operator safe is the training received before achieving the certification."

The benefits of requiring certified operators go well beyond the level of competence in skill ability and knowledge, Peters said. For example, in some cases, a firm might qualify for general liability insurance premium discounts for having certified operators. The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators offers such certification.

April 22, 2008

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