FAIRFAX, VA - Five representatives of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) met with officials at the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) on July 28 to emphasize their continuing support of the consensus document agreed to by the Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC). In July 2003, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) appointed 23 individuals to C-DAC for the express purpose of recommending a proposal for a construction safety standard for cranes and derricks. That standard was last updated in 1971. C-DAC members represented all facets of the industry affected by the standard.

After a year of diligent efforts, C-DAC negotiated all aspects of the proposed new standard by July 2004, satisfying OSHA's deadline requirements. Not until over two years later, in August 2006, did OSHA convene the required Small Business Advisory Review Panel on the forthcoming regulatory proposal. The review panel issued its report in October 2006, five days after the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) unanimously supported the OSHA draft proposed standard as written and urged OSHA to move forward with all deliberate speed to issue the due standard.

It has only recently moved to OMB, where it is expected to be subject to review for 30 to 90 days. Testifying before OMB were SC&RA Vice President Beth O'Quinn, Graham Brent, National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, and three SC&RA members who served on C-DAC - Doug Williams, Buckner Companies; Bill Smith, NBIS Construction & Transport Underwriters Inc.; and Robert Weiss, Cranes, Inc.

Robert Weiss pointed out that the current safety standard for cranes and derricks "has exactly five short sentences devoted to tower cranes, the most complex and, given their great height, potentially dangerous type of crane out there," he said.

"C-DAC's proposed standard, on the other hand, has 14 full pages devoted to tower crane specific items, including erecting, climbing and dismantling, safety devices, operational aids and inspections."