On July 28, Jim Maddux, the head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Directorate of Construction announced than an enforcement directive for the construction cranes and derricks standard, as well as letters of interpretation, should be issued this fall. He made his announcement exactly one year after OSHA published the final rule.
“There is a huge need for guidance,” Maddux told OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health. Issues raised by the industry are training requirements for crane operators, riggers and signalmen; whether a crane is considered engaged in construction when it is used to deliver supplies to a worksite; and the amount of time electrical utilities have to shut down power to electric lines close to construction cranes.