A stormy Sunday afternoon in Dallas with gusts of 70 mph or higher. A tower crane tied to a new apartment building frame tumbles, smashing a completed parking structure behind it.
With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s new rule for crane operation taking effect this month, the industry’s response has been less a panic over additional regulation than a sigh of relief for overdue clarifications.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced on May 21 that it is amending its proposed rule for crane operator training and certification.
Crane accidents are one of the enduring nightmares of construction work, so it is notable that as an industry where regulation often equals costs and entanglements, construction professionals have joined together to support the long-awaited publication date of a new federal safety rule that would make certifying crane operators mandatory.