With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new rule for crane operation taking effect this month, the industry’s response has been less a panic over additional regulation than a sigh of relief for overdue clarifications.
“The regulation is now clear on what operator qualifications look like,” says Hank Dutton, senior technical specialist for risk control at Travelers Insurance. Dutton oversees a 41⁄2-day crane-safety training course that Travelers offers to its customers, and he has advocated for higher standards of crane training. The OSHA rule requires not only that operators be trained and certified, but also that they must be evaluated on site by a qualified supervisor.
