OSHA Extends Deadline for Crane Operator Certification Requirements

OSHA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend the employer’s responsibility to ensure crane operator competency and enforcement for crane operator certification to Nov. 10, 2018.
OSHA issued a final rule in September 2014, extending the deadline by three years for crane operator certification requirements in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard.
The final rule also extended by three years the employer’s responsibility to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely.
During the three-year period, OSHA addressed operator qualification requirements for the cranes standards, including the role of operator certification.
The final cranes and derricks rule required crane operators on construction sites to meet one of four qualification/certification options by Nov. 10, 2014.
After publishing the final rule, a number of parties raised concerns about the standard’s requirement to certify operators by type and capacity of crane and questioned whether crane operator certification was sufficient for determining whether an operator could operate their equipment safely on a construction site.
The original final rule replacing a decades old standard on the use of cranes and derricks in construction was published in August 2010

Latest Extension

The agency is now proposing an extension of the enforcement date to address stakeholder concerns over the operator certification requirements in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard.
Comments may be submitted electronically or by facsimile or mail. See the Federal Register notice for submission details and additional information about this proposed rule.
Comments must be submitted by Sept. 29, 2017.