Stalled Federal Rules Prompt State Action Patchwork of regional crane safety restrictions is emerging to address jobsite dangers
“When cranes are falling down, it’s a major safety issue,” says Gerard Philippeaux, director of public affairs for Audrey M. Edmonson, Miami-Dade County commissioner. Edmonson proposed the local ordinance following an April 2006 fatality of a worker who fell 39 stories to his death when a piece of the tower crane he was working on fell. The ordinance comes up for a vote March 18.
OSHA’s crane and derrick rule has changed little since 1971. The agency is “in the latter stages of developing a proposed rule,” says Claude Knighten, an OSHA spokesman. The slow progress frustrates industry sources. “The report from the Crane and Derricks Advisory Committee [C-DAC] has been sitting in OSHA for more than three years,” says Graham Brent, executive director of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO). “It may not be published as even a draft review until the end of this year.”