MSHA to ban rigging?
20 June 2016Late in May I received a press release from Sims Crane, announcing that they would be appealing a decision earlier that month by a US Mining Safety and Health Administration judge that would, they say, redefine spreader bars and similar equipment as a 'load', making it impossible to rig them.
The judge's decision related to a site visit by an MSHA inspector to a quarry in Florida in April 2015. The MSHA and workplace safety regulator OSHA have agreements to work alongside each other, and apply regulations consistently. At the time of the inspection, a Sims crew were working at the site, preparing to lift a large metal screen. As part of their preparations, the crew had attached a spreader beam to the crane, and were preparing to attach the beam to the metal screen.
The inspector saw the crane's helper stnading below the spreader beam, and issued a verbal 'imminent danger order'. Both the helper and the crane's operator disputed the inspectors warning and subsequent citation. The citation was affirmed by the administrative judge.
Sims' petition for discretionary review challenges the basis of the citation. Sims' lawyers argue that by defining a spreader bar as a 'load', the judge makes it impossible to comply with the regulations.
The regulations state that 'persons shall stay clear of suspended loads'. The issue, the judge says, is whether the spreader bar constituted a load. On this point, the judge relies on a dictionary definition, which calls a load 'a weight or mass that is supported'.
Sims petition hinges on the argument that the OSHA regulations clearly differentiate between crane components and a load. The judge found that as the spreader was raised to 25ft, it was being moved and so was a load. Sims' lawyers argue that this is part of a two stage process for lifting the spreader beam.
First, the beam is attached to the crane. Next, the beam is raised so that the wire chokers that will attach it to the load can be uncoiled and straightened by by hand. Sims says this is what the workers were doing when the citation was issued.
Sims position is being taken seriously by experts around the world. The US SC&RA has acted to support the crane company. One international trade association leader I spoke to called it a 'stupid situation' that should never have got to court.
As Sims argues, the decision introduces contradictions that would make it impossible to work with attachments like spreader beams. The regulations, the lawyers say, clearly differentiate between a crane load and components like this, establishing rules for rigging them safely. It seem bizarre for a judge to now come up with his own definition.
Will North editor
wnorth@cranestodaymagazine.com
