With several estimated release dates already passed, OSHA's new safety standard for cranes and derricks in construction has been delayed again. OSHA had said to look for the standard in October 2007; now it appears the rule will not be finalized by the end of this year.
On Jan. 24, Noah Connell, director of OSHA's Office of Construction Standards and Guidance, defended the agency's slow pace proposing a rule on a worker safety standard for cranes before a federal advisory, according to an article in the Feb. 6 issue of Construction Labor Report.
"This is quite simply an enormous undertaking that takes an unbelievable amount of effort and time," he told the advisory committee on Construction Safety and Health during its three-day meeting in Washington, D.C.
The proposed standard resulted from the efforts of the Crane and Derrick Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee (C-DAC), which achieved consensus in July 2004.
Despite the delay, Connell said the standard is his office's biggest priority, according to the CLR. "My office has never for a day slowed down on the rule," he said.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
