OSHA to launch, discuss, new rule today
28 July 2010US regulator OSHA will launch its much-anticipated new cranes and derricks rule today, July 28 2010. The launch will be accompanied by a chance to ask questions online during a live webchat.
The webchat will take place on the US department of labour website, here, at 15:00 EDT (12:00 PDT; 19:00 UTC).
The rule has taken a little more than eight years to come into effect: OSHA first announced its plans to form a Cranes and Derricks Advisory Committee to develop the new rule on July 16 2002. Pressure on OSHA to get the rule into effect increased after two mass fatality accidents in New York in 2008, prompting then senators Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama to call on the Bush administration to move the rule forward. The rule will finally come into effect after Obama has been in power for 18 months.
During the long wait for a federal rule, some local legislatures have implemented their own rules. While some of these have met with industry approval, others have been accused of overstepping their authority. In Miami-Dade, a crane rule was struck down by a judge, on the basis that it 'superseded' OSHA. In New York City, a similar action is being taken by SINY, the Steel Institute of New York.
