The formal title of the proposed rule is 29 CFR (the section of the Code of Federal Regulations covering standards) Part 1926 (OSHA construction standards) Subpart N (cranes and derricks). More commonly, it has become known as C-DAC, for the 23 member crane and derricks advisory committee that drafted the rule back in 2003/04.

OSHA spent the intervening period writing an economic analysis of the new standard, and an audit on the effect of the standard on small businesses. By the start of this year, many crane industry insiders had given up hope of seeing the committee’s hard work bear fruit.

One expert Cranes Today spoke to at ConExpo, in Las Vegas this March, said that the proposed rule had been ‘lost in the corridors of Washington’ and was unlikely to move forward until a new US president was inaugurated. The day after that conversation, a tower crane accident in New York killed seven people. When a second high profile accident, in May, killed two more people in the city, the country’s politicians finally woke up to the importance of moving the rule forward.

New York senator (and, at that time, Democratic party primary contender) Hilary Clinton wrote to OSHA administrator Edwin Foulke calling for the rule to be promulgated. The senator’s letter was followed by further calls for progress from the Democratic party members of the senate subcommittee on employment and workplace safety, which included Clinton and future presidential candidate Barack Obama.

On June 17, New York congressional representative Carolyn Maloney, and 16 other members of the US’s lower house, wrote to Foulke again, saying, “Please advise us by June 23, 2008 when OSHA expects to promulgate the crane and derrick standards and why it has taken nearly four years to do so.” OSHA passed the proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review, on the same day

On June 24, the US house of representatives committee on education and labour held a full committee hearing, to ask ‘Is OSHA failing to adequately enforce construction safety rules?’

In the summary to the rule, OSHA says, “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 recognise hazards associated with the use of the equipment and any related duties that they are assigned to perform.”

Over the next 240 pages of the Federal Register, the rule explains the C-DAC experts view of the best way to do this, and raises questions to be considered during the public consultation.



Related Files
C-DAC proposed rule for comment