Construction Crane Safety

Update: New Rule Adopted; Response to Public Hearing comments - Concise Explanatory Statement (CES) (717KB PDF) added.

Washington State Crane Certifier Examination Schedule

Date	Location	Tests offered
None scheduled at this time.

Registration begins at 8:15 a.m. Representatives from IAI will be on site to accept applications and payment.

Washington State Construction Crane Certifier Program Candidate Hanbook(170 KB PDF)

Overview

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has adopted a new rule related to construction crane safety. This rule (Phase 1) establishes:

• A crane certification program for cranes used in the construction industry;
• Requirements to become an accredited crane certifier; and
• Requirements to become a qualified crane operator.

Effective Date

The majority of the rule does not go into effect until January 1, 2010; however, the crane certifier requirements (WAC 296-155-531 through WAC 296-155-53112) will go into effect on January 1, 2009. These rules will be in effect to accredit crane certifiers. On January 1, 2010 employers must be in compliance with the rule which requires cranes and operators to be certified.

Response to Public Comments

The Department conducted 5 public hearings and solicited written comments on proposed rule filed on July 23, 2008. The results of that process are available in the Concise Explanatory Statement (CES) (717KB PDF) .

As a result of stakeholder input, the Department further mitigated costs from the proposed rule by:

• Amending Table 1, Operator Hour Requirements to include an additional tonnage/hour category for small telescopic boom cranes; and
• Exempting cranes of a capacity of 1 ton or less from the requirements of these rules.

These changes will lessen the economic impact and burden to Washington state employers. The final version of the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) does not consider these decreases in requirements. The CBA was not updated because the cost-benefit determination, specifically that the benefits outweigh the costs, would only be strengthened by this update. Since the Department has previously established the benefits outweigh the costs, the Department did not believe it was necessary to update this document.

Rulemaking History

The legislature passed Chapter 27, Laws of 2007 (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2171 (24KB PDF)) in response to a catastrophic tower crane accident that happened in Bellevue in November 2006. The Department conducted two sets of statewide stakeholder meetings to gather input from the industry for use in developing draft riles. The first set of statewide stakeholder meetings was held in July 2007. Following these meetings, the Department decided to break the rulemaking into two phases. The first phase of this rulemaking adopts rules for the construction crane certifiers, construction crane certification, and operator qualifications, as outlined in RCW 49.17.400 through 440 . Documents presented during the rulemaking are available here.

Rules & Policy

• General Safety, WAC 296-24, Part D.
• Pulp & Paper, Crawler and Truck (WAC 296-79-170) .
• Pulp & Paper, Standard Hand Signals (WAC 296-78-830) .
• Safety Standards for Construction Work, WAC 296-155, Part L.
• Construction Crane Safety law: RCW 49.17.400 through 49.17.440.
• Rolling Outriggers on Mobile Cranes (48KB PDF) (WRD 7.00).
• Pre-operational Testing Requirements for Tower Cranes (135KB PDF) (WRD 8.50).
• Acceptable Methods of Compliance for Crane Operator Qualifications and Certification Under WAC 296-155-53300(1)(a) (107KB PDF) (WRD 8.60).

Videos

• Crane Safety Videos.
• Rigging Safety Videos.
• Search for all videos with Cranes in the title or description.

Other Resources

• Application for Accreditation.
• Crane Operator Qualifications - Affidavit (69KB DOC) .
• List of Construction Crane Certifier Companies (37KB PDF).
• Crane Rule presentation (1.1MB PDF / 3 min.).
• Tower Crane Worksheet for Construction Industry.
• Mobile Cranes/Derricks Worksheet for Construction Industry.
• Mobile Cranes/Derricks Supplemental Component Worksheet.
• Notice of Deficiencies form.
• Maritime Cranes - Certification.

Who do I contact for more information?

• For information on the rulemaking process, please contact:

  Cindy Ireland
  Department of Labor & Industries
  Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH)
  PO Box 44620
  Olympia, WA 98504-4620
  Phone: (360) 902-5522
  Fax: (360) 902-5619
  Email: mooc235@LNI.wa.gov

• For technical questions regarding cranes, please contact Lawrence Markee (360) 902-4553 or via email to mala235@lni.wa.gov.