Crane Safety Standards Outdated

Crane Safety of Paramount Importance to Glazers

The article below points out the Importance of Safe cranes to the Contractor Glazers.


This is very true and is paramount for ALL work using cranes to lift materials safely on construction sites all over the country.


With the Labor Department's typical Washington paperwork fiascoes any new planned updates to the 1971 Crane Safety Standards, it looks like it will be another two or more years before these standards go into effect.


However, There are well qualified Crane Safety Schools all over the country that train and certify crane operators, inspectors, supervisors and construction management can be trained in safety crane usage and maintenance. There are several in Olando and other Florida locations. All anyone has to do is to do a Google Search for Crane Safety Training to find a facility near them. I am sure that the standards that OSHA will finally enact will be almost the same or of less value in providing safe cranes, safe and certified operators and maintenance requirements to assurer that all cranes are safe enough that when a crane enters a construction site or is erected on a site, it is ready to start up, pull the levers and safely handle the loads required.


I feel that any craft worker that use cranes to lift materials in critical areas (meaning almost any lift) would welcome the knowledge they can be earned at one of these Crane Schools.


I commend the Glazers for this article.

Crane Safety of Paramount Importance for Contract Glaziers

In early 2003 the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) announced it would move forward with the negotiated rulemaking process to update its cranes and derricks standard. Now, more than five years later, the standard-which has not been revised since 1971--is still not done, and crane-related accidents and fatalities are becoming an increasing concern for construction-related associations, unions and contract glaziers.

Don Earnheart, national design vice president for Trainor Glass Co. in Dallas, says crane safety is a major concern for contract glazing companies

"We use cranes to lift our pre-glazed panels off our trucks and load them on floors. Safety issues with cranes are of paramount importance to our installation efforts," says Earnheart. "We certainly want safer cranes to ensure life safety issues for our employees as well as to eliminate potential damage to products."

As a result of recent accidents and fatalities, a number of legislators are taking action on the matter of crane safety. Just last week several senators, including New York's Hillary Rodham Clinton, called on the Bush administration jointly to issue new crane safety regulations.

"The tragic number of recent crane accidents in New York and elsewhere that have led to injury or death is sobering, and it is critical that we act immediately to protect the safety of workers and residents and prevent future tragedies," said Senator Clinton in a statement. "The regulations governing crane and derrick safety are antiquated and poorly enforced. I urge the [Bush] Administration to immediately issue the safety regulations it has withheld for four years and take steps to ensure that these regulations are enforced."

OSHA did not return USGNN.com's calls for comment.