22
ACT
AUGUST 2013
RIGGING REVIEW
Crane inspectors, just like operators, riggers
and signalpersons, play a critical role in the safe
operation of equipment.
Tim Hillegonds
reports.
THE
AUTHOR
Tim Hillegonds
spent
10 years in the heavy
construction insurance
industry before founding
Thrive Creative Services,
a creative copywriting agency dedicated to
helping businesses tell their stories.
Formed in January of 1995 to develop
effective performance standards for safe
crane operation, NCCCO provides an
independent assessment of skills in a
number of different categories. Currently,
the organization administers certification
programs for operators of mobile cranes,
tower cranes, overhead cranes, articulating
cranes and digger derricks, in addition
to the non-operator certifications for
signalperson, riggers and crane inspectors.
Newest certification
The crane inspector certification program,
the newest in NCCCO’s stable, was
formed in partnership with the Crane
Certification Association of America
(CCAA), a group that’s been bringing
together crane certifiers and advocating
for crane safety since the 1980s.
Joel Olivia, manager of program
development and administration for
NCCCO, explains that crane inspectors,
just like operators, riggers and
signalpersons, play a critical role in the
safe operation of equipment.
“There was a need in the industry
to develop performance standards for
crane inspectors in an effort to improve
on the quality of the inspections being
performed,” Olivia says. “That, in
turn, leads to safer job sites and crane
operations.”
As Olivia alludes to, safer jobsites are
the ultimate goal of almost every new
NCCCO initiative. Having certified crane
operators, riggers and signalpersons
puts a new expectation on each of them
– one that demands a higher level of
competency. It only makes sense, then,
to take this attitude of responsibility and
apply it to the individuals inspecting the
cranes themselves.
While the role of crane inspectors varies
greatly, the majority of third-party crane
inspectors in the construction industry
are providing annual, comprehensive
inspections as required by OSHA Subpart
CC, or periodic inspections as required
by ASME B30.5. It is the crane inspector’s
task to give a thorough review of the
equipment (often requiring the boom
to be laid down) to be sure all parts and
systems are working properly. However,
in all states except California and
Washington, the inspector isn’t required
to “certify” the crane, so to speak, only
to perform an inspection and provide a
detailed list of deficiencies to the crane’s
owner or operator. It is the owner’s/
operator’s responsibility to then have those
deficiencies corrected.
In the two states mentioned above,
California and Washington, the state
law takes it a step further and requires
that these individuals do, in fact, certify
the crane for work. In California, the
individuals that perform this work are
called “surveyors.” In Washington, they
are called “certifiers.” In both cases, the
individuals who have been licensed by the
state will perform inspections and actually
“certify” the crane as fit to perform work
within that specific state.
In a perfect world, a proper inspection
allows a person versed in all things crane
related to observe the crane in a static
state. Typically, the boom is laid down and
the time-consuming process of inspecting
for things like oxidization and pre-existing
fractures begins. The idea, obviously, is to
try and locate potential problems before
they manifest themselves. However, prior
to NCCCO and CCAA rolling out the
new certification program, cranes could
be inspected by virtually anyone. And this
sometimes caused catastrophic problems.
J.R. Bristow, CCAA member and
president of Bristow Truck and Equipment
Specialist, Inc., has seen firsthand how
incompetent inspections and inspectors
have played a role in certain accidents.
Bristow and his company provide damage
evaluations, equipment appraisals and
A critical step
A
s with all of OSHA’s initiatives,
its “new” rule for cranes and
derricks in construction (29
CFR 1926, Subpart CC) “seeks to assure
safe and healthful working conditions for
men and women by setting and enforcing
standards, and by providing training,
outreach, education and assistance.”
However, assuring safe and healthful
working conditions also means that words
like “certification” and “qualification” are
getting thrown around a lot more lately.
To that end, requirements for riggers,
operators and signalpersons are
significantly more stringent now that
the rule is operational. Though some
companies have initially resisted these
changes because of legitimate financial
concerns, most of them have been
dutifully training their employees so as to
be compliant and proactive.
With regard to the inspection of cranes,
however, understanding what’s involved
and what companies should be looking
for can remain somewhat of a mystery.
How do we know that a crane inspector
is qualified and what exactly does it mean
to be certified? For those answers, in
addition to consulting the OSHA rule,
we can turn to the National Commission
for the Certification of Crane Operators
(NCCCO), one of the most proactive
organizations around in terms of raising
the standards of testing.
