Representatives of standardized testing companies say that crane-operator exams will continue to be administered, though possibly at a slower pace, as the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration re-examines contentious certification language in its cranes-and-derricks regulation.
"I think that there will be, unfortunately, a short-term downturn in certification," says Debbie Dickinson, executive director of Crane Institute Certification. But she adds that some firms are not waiting for OSHA to revise its rules. "The big companies that we work with, they are not rewriting their safety programs," she says.