Worksafe BC ready to begin certification
17 December 2008British Columbia, Canada, workplace safety organisation Worksafe BC is ready to begin certifying crane operators working in the province. Letters will be sent to the first 2,500 operators registered for the programme over December 2008 and January 2009.
The certification programme for British Columbia (and a smaller programme in the Yukon) is being managed by training and assessment specialists the Fulford Harbour Group. The CraneSafe Certification system was developed over three years with the support of the BC Association for Crane Safety, WorkSafeBC, the BC Industry Training Authority and 52 crane industry experts.
Since 2008, crane operators working in British Columbia and the Yukon have been required to be certified. More than 10,000 operators from British Columbia and 500 from the Yukon have registered to be certified. Over the next two years, letters will be sent to all registered mobile and crawler crane operators, giving them 90 days to prepare for their assessment for certification.
Tower crane certification will be rolled out separately. All 500 tower crane operators registered for certification will receive a letter by the end of January 2009. Tower crane operators must also complete a theory test, as well as a practical examination. They will be given 90 days for the practical exam, and then another 90 days for the theory test.
