Six months after the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration began enforcing its crane and derrick standard, which mandates higher levels of safety precautions for hoisting operations on construction sites, employers and regulators say implementation of the landmark workplace-safety rule has been no easy task.
New qualification requirements for riggers and signalers are among the most questioned parts of the current crane rules, and employers say OSHA's definition of “qualified” is ambiguous. “I think that has caused a little bit of confusion,” acknowledges an OSHA spokesman, who asked not to be named. “We do have several letters of interpretation, and we are working on some FAQs.”