More than two years have passed since a committee that included members of the SC&RA drafted a new crane standard for the USA.
“Most of the time OSHA has been waiting for a general economic analysis” of the impact of the new standard, Cordaro said.
Since June, it has also been soliciting views of the standard from a Small Business Regulatory and Financial Advocacy panel that includes four members from the SC&RA, including George Young, of George Young Company.
OSHA has also developed an extensive preamble that describes the standard and the reasons for its creation, Cordaro said. Other government departments, including the Small Business Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Occupational Health and Safety, have also been working on the standard, she said.
Any extra information found during this research process will not change the text as drafted, but rather be added to the preamble and a questions section in the rule draft, which will be issued for public comment, according to ex-OSHA official Bill Smith, now vice president, risk management for NBIS Construction & Transport Underwriters.
“The document will stay like it is for public comment, with questions inserted in the preamble,” he said. “Then after public comment, the goverment takes everything back, and then decides what the final rule should look like. No-one ever said that it would never be changed.”
