In 2007, a state investigation in New York found that hundreds of crane operators carrying licenses to operate in the state—some of them working since the 1970s—had never passed their practical exams. The probe ">turned up evidence that state officials and local union members were influencing the process—rubber-stamping the insiders while rejecting the outsiders—regardless of competency. Hundreds of licenses were revoked, and workers were re-tested under severe state scrutiny.
Taking testing away from an exclusive authority and putting it in the hands of a nationally-accredited testing agency lowers the risk of corruption, governments say. In Chicago, for example, the city has for nearly a decade outsourced crane operator licensing exams to third parties. Its written exams are administered by a company called Continental Testing, a Midwest-based professional test proctor. Its practical exams are administered exclusively by the operating engineers' Local 150.
If that last point caused you to raise an eyebrow, keep in mind that the operating engineers' exams ">are nationally accredited. If the accrediting body discovers corruption, the union would risk losing its accreditation, and the test would no longer meet the federal requirements. Like it or not, governments like New York and Chicago are shifting the risks of testing to outside companies, leaving public-safety officials to police the jobsite. And that brings us to our next point.
Tight Resources
Testing crane operators is a capital-intensive process in a time when governments are strapped for cash. For the written crane exams, you have to develop questions and print reams of paper. You need subject-matter experts to come up with psychometrically sound questions that test real-world knowledge and skill. You have to set aside a classroom or other setting where people can take the test. You have to heat and cool the classroom, and you have to provide restrooms and other facilities. During and after testing, proctors are needed to administer and score the exams. You need to maintain a database of candidates, print cards and pay postage.
For the practical exams, you have the additional cost of buying, setting up, maintaining and operating the cranes, which can cost millions of dollars and take up valuable real estate. You need to keep the rigs fueled up. Experts need to be retained to develop the obstacle courses, set them up, monitor the tests and score applicants. In some jurisdictions, candidates may test on their own cranes, but the process is still more complicated and costly than a cop sitting with you in your car while you drive around the block.
Free Markets
Another reason why jurisdictions are outsourcing testing is that they value competition among the testing agencies. Competition fosters efficiency and keeps costs down, experts say. For years, NCCCO was the only testing company offering accredited operator exams. However, once OSHA expressed interest in mandating testing, a handful of other companies gained accreditation. What happened? ENR found that by 2008 crane-operator exams had largely become ">low-cost commodities, with few differences from test to test.
Groups arguing against national certification in New York City say that the city is relinquishing control of an important public-safety role in a place where crane work really matters. Earlier this year, a federal judge noted ">in dismissing a case alleging that New York City's safety regulations pre-empted OSHA, "If a crane falls in New York City, someone is almost always there to hear it—and be hit by it."
The city responds that it will continue to administer the licenses; it just won't be doing any testing. With more than 1,600 licensed crane operators in New York City today—most of them members of operating engineers' Local 14—will competition be heating up for skilled tradespeople, in addition to tests?
