15.11.2008

USA Crane regulations

OSHA finally published its revised standards for cranes in the Federal Register on October 9th. The standard is now open for public comment until December 8th. In order to have your say Click Here to go directly to the standard and comment form

The standard was completed over four years ago by 23 representatives and experts from the crane and construction industries who sat on the Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee – C-DAC.

OSHA publishes a handy summary at the start of the 240 page document, here it is in full:

“OSHA is proposing a rule to protect employees from the hazards associated with hoisting equipment when used to perform construction activities.

Under this proposed rule, employers would first determine whether the ground is sufficient to support the anticipated weight of hoisting equipment and associated loads. The employer then would be required to assess hazards within the work zone that would affect the safe operation of hoisting equipment, such as those of power lines and objects or personnel that would be within the work zone or swing radius of the hoisting equipment.

Finally, the employer would be required to ensure that the equipment is in safe operating condition via required inspections and employees in the work zone are trained to recognize hazards associated with the use of the equipment and any related duties that they are assigned to perform.

Comments and hearing requests may be submitted as follows:

• Electronically. Comments may be submitted electronically to http://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Follow the instructions online for submitting comments. (Click on the link above – it is much easier)

• Facsimile: OSHA allows facsimile transmission of comments and hearing requests that are 10 pages or fewer in length (including attachments). Send these documents to the OSHA Docket Office at (202) 693–1648; hard copies of these documents are not required.

Instead of transmitting facsimile copies of attachments that supplement these documents (e.g., studies, journal articles), commenters may submit these attachments, in triplicate hard copy, to the OSHA Docket Office, Technical Data Center, Room N–2625, OSHA, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20210.

These attachments must clearly identify the sender’s name, date, subject, and Docket ID (i.e., OSHA–2007–0066) so that the Agency can attach them to the appropriate document.

• Regular mail, express delivery, hand (courier) delivery, and messenger service: Submit three copies of comments and any additional material (e.g., studies, journal articles) to the OSHA Docket Office, Docket ID OSHA–2007–0066 or RIN No. 1218–AC01, Technical Data Center, Room N–2625, OSHA, Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20210;
telephone: (202) 693–2350. (OSHA’s TTY number is (877) 889–
5627.) Please contact the OSHA Docket Office for information about security
procedures concerning delivery of materials by express delivery, hand
delivery, and messenger service. The hours of operation for the OSHA Docket Office are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., e.t.

• Instructions. All submissions must include the Agency name and the OSHA Docket ID (i.e., OSHA–2007–0066). Comments and other material, including any personal information, are placed in the public docket without revision, and will be available online at http://www.regulations.gov.

Therefore, the Agency cautions commenters about submitting statements they do not want made available to the public, or submitting comments that contain personal information (either about themselves or others) such as social security numbers, birth dates, and medical data.

• Docket. To read or download comments or other material in the
docket, go to http://www.regulations.gov or to the OSHA Docket Office at the address above. Documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index; however, some information (e.g., copyrighted material) is not publicly available to read or download through this Web site. All submissions, including copyrighted material, are available for inspection and copying at the OSHA Docket Office. Contact the OSHA Docket Office for
assistance in locating docket submissions.