In an increasingly familiar scenario, OSHA is considering pushing a regulatory compliance date forward into the future in order to “address stakeholder concerns.”

The agency yesterday issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to extend the employer's responsibility to ensure crane operator competency and enforcement for crane operator certification to Nov. 10, 2018.

OSHA issued a final rule in September 2014, extending the deadline by three years for crane operator certification requirements in the Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard. The final rule also extended by three years the employer's responsibility to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely.

Stakeholders objected

OSHA’s position that an operator is qualified to operator a crane if he is certified for the type and capacity of equipment or for higher-capacity equipment of that type proved to be controversial; many employers, unions, and firms that offer crane operator training and certification objected to crane capacity being used as a factor for operator certification.

Subsequent stakeholder meetings led to the original compliance date extension, to November 10, 2017.

How to comment

Comments may submitted electronically at http://www.regulations.gov, the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal or by facsimile or mail. See the Federal Register notice for submission details and additional information about this proposed rule. Comments must be submitted by Sept. 29, 2017.