Federal crane rules languish

WASHINGTON -- An effort by federal regulators to mandate the certification of crane operators has been languishing for almost four years.

A proposal to implement such a requirement is likely to be included in safety recommendations the agency expects to make public this year, a Labor Department spokeswoman said Friday. Creating the new rule is a "top priority," said spokeswoman Sharon Worthy.

There have been three fatal crane accidents in recent weeks, including a collapse in New York on Friday that killed two construction workers and seriously injured another.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's existing rules for workers who operate cranes have not been updated since 1971, though the agency acknowledges modernized standards could help prevent future accidents. Meantime, more than a dozen states have enacted legislation to require operator certification.

OSHA has been working with industry on updated rules since 2003 and they reached consensus on a range of issues in July 2004, including the crane operator certification requirement.

The Labor Department in May estimated there are as many as 82 fatalities annually associated with cranes in construction "and a more up-to-date standard would help prevent them."

In an effort to explain why four years have elapsed since the federal crane certification rules were first agreed upon, Worthy said the implementation process is very complex, requiring her agency to prove that the rules won't place undue burden on industry, among other things.

David Heidorn, manager of government affairs and policy at the American Society of Safety Engineers, criticized the government delay and said the negotiated rule-making process with industry should have helped get the rule in place more quickly. However, he acknowledged that OSHA's standards development process is underfunded while facing constant, intense scrutiny.

"There's huge pressure on OSHA because every time they come out with something they get sued," said Heidorn, whose group last year told Congress that the "safety and health standards-setting process is broken and needs to be fixed."

After the Labor Department completes internal reviews of the proposed crane operator rule, which should be done "soon," it will be sent to the White House's Office of Management and Budget for review, Worthy said.