OSHA to allow employers grace period to comply on crane operator evaluations
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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is enforcing the requirement that employers must evaluate their operators before allowing them to operate cranes independently, but will give employers making good-faith efforts to comply a 60-day grace period, according to enforcement guidance effective on Feb. 7.
OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction: Operator Qualifications final rule was published on Nov. 8, and requires employers to document their evaluation of their crane operators. To provide more time for employer compliance with new evaluation and documentation requirements, OSHA made the effective date Feb. 7, according to the memorandum sent to regional administrators and state plan designees on Feb. 7 and publicized in a statement on Wednesday.
But OSHA has received feedback from the construction industry indicating some employers may need more time to document evaluations of crane operators prior to the Feb. 7 effective date so during the first 60 days of enforcement, the agency will evaluate good-faith efforts taken by employers in their attempt to meet the new documentation requirements for operators of cranes used in construction, according to the memo.
The agency intends to offer compliance assistance, in lieu of enforcement, for those employers who have evaluated operators in accordance with the final rule, and are making good-faith efforts to comply with the new documentation requirement until April 15, according to the memo.
“If, upon inspection, it is determined that an employer has failed to make sufficient efforts to comply, OSHA should cite for that deficiency,” the memo stated.
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