Crane Signals & Crane Safety

Contributed by Roger Hurst, Evergreen Safety Council

At the Seattle Vicinity Construction Safety Council meeting this month the subject was: Crane Signals.

I would like to thank Erich Smith, Ironworker Apprenticeship Coordinator, Gaytor Rasmussen, Seattle Tower Crane Inspection, Jim West, Safety Director of MacDonald Miller and Larry Markee, DOSH Safety Crane Compliance Specialist for an excellent program. Not only did they speak about communications between the crane operator and the signal person, but all the communications needed around a work site: clear and concise hand signals along with clear verbal communications between all involved.

The presentation brought up the WAC codes on who can become a signal person and what type of qualifications they would need. The general discussion from the attendees was how do these people get trained and to what standard.

Evergreen Safety has a new Mobile Crane Operator Training program. This is a 3 ½ day training course taught here at our training facility by Norm Nyhuis, our resident expert. After the class a NCCCO proctor administers the core exam and one or more specialty exams.

What the attendees wanted to know is by what standards the signal person or rigger should be trained. I believe in the new future you will see a NCCCO Signal person type of training for these individuals as well. If I was safety manager at a construction company I would investigate these types of courses.

We here at Evergreen Safety are the folks who have the all new Total Safety Compliance program for the training of your personnel. We can save your company money, time and the hassle of training your workers.

Four easy steps to get your program started:
1. Evergreen personnel visit your site and perform a training assessment
2. We base our fees on a per employee per month basis
3. We review and confirm your training needs
4. We track all the safety training your employees participate in and notify you when the certifications need renewal

With Total Safety Compliance, it’s that simple.

Crane Operation Safety

By Norm Nyhuis, Training / Consultant, Evergreen Safety Council
Even though it is a typically rainy, January day, one coping technique for surviving winter in western Washington is to think ahead to those warmer and drier days to come. When spring finally arrives, many of us will be thinking about yard work. And those of us who use heavy powered equipment may be tempted to creatively adapt that equipment to facilitate the job at hand.

Since certification of crane operators is now a requirement for cranes used in construction, this photo illustrates several safety issues.

First – I’d give the guy an “A” for creativity – sort of following in the footsteps of the TV character, Tim “the tool man” Taylor. However, I’d run out of space before I covered all the potential dangers in this scene depicted. Here’s a few:

• The web-sling rigging appears to be attached low on the mower: what is the center of gravity for this load, and could it overturn?
• The ASME standard requires that personnel only be elevated in approved personnel baskets, equipped with appropriate fall protection, and only if no other means is available or practical to access the specific location.
• At minimum, the manufacturer’s requirement that the equipment – both the boom truck and the mower – be used only for the purposes for which it was designed, is being violated.

Picture Source: Navy Safety Center

Mobile Cranes

How’s your crane certification coming along? The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) today (12/22/2009) reminded businesses that new crane safety standards taking effect Jan. 1 require construction cranes in Washington to be certified, but only a fraction have done so.

Of an estimated 7,000 cranes used in construction in the state, only 700 have been certified, including just 20 tower cranes. There are an estimated 100 tower cranes currently erected throughout the state.

“There are a huge number of cranes not certified,” said Dan McMurdie, manager of L&I’s Construction and Specialty Services program. “Businesses should have been working on this all year, but if they haven’t, they certainly should now.” He said there are about 50 people statewide trained to certify cranes, noting that an inspection can take a few hours to a week or more, depending on the crane’s size and complexity. To see the full story go to the L&I website at www.lni.wa.gov/news/2009/pr091222a.asp.

In addition to the crane certification, there is also requirements for operator training and certification, so if you haven’t, it’s time to get going and remember Evergreen can help.

Cars & Cranes

CARS

Coming soon on I-5 south of Seattle. Very interesting program to reduce crashes that tend to occur after another crash has resulted in heavy congestion.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/smarterhighways/

Well, here in Seattle I guess we need it...Seattle has the worst traffic congestion in the country, with 43% of the city's roads having "HEAVY DELAYS", according to global positioning system (GPS) company TomTom. We were even higher than LA , which only had 38% of roads with heavy delays.

CRANES
NEW – NEW - NEW

ARE YOU READY FOR WAC 296-155, PART L?
The new Washington State Crane Code - Effective January 1, 2010

If you have cranes with a capacity over 1 ton, your operators must be trained by a nationally accredited training agency (WAC 296-155-53300). Evergreen Safety Council in cooperation with Working Class Heroes Safety & Health Services provides you with NCCCO certified training for small telescoping booms and knuckle booms.

4-Day Mobile Crane Training
Jan. 18-21, 2010 – Seattle
Jan. 25-28, 2010 – Spokane
Mar. 1-4, 2010 – Seattle
Mar. 15-18, 2010 – Vancouver

2 Day Knuckle Boom
Jan 14-15, 2010 – Seattle
Feb. 1-2, 2010 – Spokane
Mar. 10-11, 2010 – Seattle
Mar. 22-23, 2010 - Vancouver

Costs
Mobile Crane training - $1175
Knuckle Boom training - $750

To receive a registration / information packet, please contact our office (206) 382-4090 / (800) 521-0078 or esc@esc.org. Onsite training is also available.