That's the assessment of Stewart Burhammer, OSHA's director of construction services, delivered in a session at the American Society of Safety Engineers Exposition and Conference in Las Vegas. The three issues identified by Burkhammer are:
- Certification of crane operators;
- Erection and dismantling of lattice boom cranes;
- Physicals for crane operators.
C-DAC has already devoted a good deal of time to the certification issue, "a major, a major issue," according to Burkhammer. "I believe in certification," he continued, "but it's how to do it without mandating a named kind of certification."
Burkhammer also supported some kind of physical examination for crane operators: "I think you do have to see and hear to operate a crane."
After the July meeting, OSHA will begin to write the final version of the draft text. "Hopefully we'll have something published in the first part of 2005," Burkhammer said.
