The Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) was set to meet this month at the Department of Labor’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to weigh in on proposed revision of operator qualification requirements in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Cranes and Derricks in Construction Standard.
An agency rule outlining revisions is aimed at providing more explicit training requirements and addressing whether certification a) means the operator is qualified to run the crane or the employer must make a separate and independent determination as such, and b) must address both type and capacity of the equipment for which an operator is certified. It responds to stakeholder concerns about a standard OSHA issued nearly five years ago with a 2014 compliance target, since extended to 2017.
Comprised of industry and labor representatives, the 15-member ACCSH advises the Secretary of Labor and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health in formulation of standards affecting the construction industry, and on policy matters arising in administration of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act. Copies of the proposed standard revision can be obtained and comments on new operator certification requirements submitted through www.regulations.gov. — Sources: Jackson Lewis P.C., Reston, Va.; OSHA
OSHA COMPLIANCE, RECORDKEEPING APP
The National Electrical Contractors Association continues build out of the cloud-based Safety Meeting App, adding features to help keep members compliant with Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines; create multiple account administrators; and, fully function on a range of mobile devices. Features in the current version include nearly 1,000 pre-written safety topics, with principal ones also provided in Spanish; export of meeting, near-miss and incident alerts to PDF; meeting and participant documentation; and, accident or incident recordkeeping. — NECA, Bethesda, Md., 301/657-3110; www.necanet.org; www.safetymeetingapp.com