Cranes and Derricks in Construction Final Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a historic new standard, addressing the use of cranes and derricks in construction and replacing a decades old standard. The Cranes and Derricks in Construction Final Rule will become effective next Monday, Nov. 8, 2010.
New 2010 OSHA Rule
This new standard will comprehensively address key hazards related to cranes and derricks on construction work-sites, including the four main causes of worker death and injury:
- electrocution
- crushed by parts of the equipment
- struck-by the equipment/load
- falls
This new rule applies to power operated equipment that can hoist, lower, and horizontally move a suspended load with a load rating capacity over 2,000 pounds when used in construction.
Examples of such equipment include articulating cranes, crawler cranes, mobile cranes and multipurpose machines that are configured to hoist and lower by means of a winch or hook.
Residential construction equipment excluded
Residential construction equipment that is excluded from the rule includes forklifts, excavators, backhoes, track loaders, machinery that uses a come-a-long to hoist, and articulating/knuckle-boom truck cranes when used to transfer materials from a truck to the ground or when transferring materials or building supplies onto a residential structure.
Other aspects of the new OSHA cranes rule deal with general contractors sharing knowledge about ground conditions beneath a set-up, new qualifications for riggers and signalmen, certification of crane operators by a third party (to be phased in over a 4-year period), employer requirements to pay for all training required by the rule and for certification of equipment operators, and new procedures for working in the vicinity of power lines.