NY crane crash another prod for OSHA

[Omaha Steve]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/ny_crane_crash_another_prod_fo.html


A large crane lies in this intersection on Manhattan's Upper East Side after it collapsed Friday, May 30, 2008 in New York City just before first responders arrived. (AP Photo/Seth Holladay)


by Frank James

It's still too early to know what caused today's deadly construction crane collapse in New York City, the second this year.

But it's safe to say this--the accident is likely to increase calls for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to play a more active role in helping to prevent such accidents.

That's what happened following this year's earlier collapse of a crane in Manhattan which killed seven people.

A May 2, 2008 editorial in the Baltimore Sun noted that the deadly accident in March spurred state and local officials into action to retrain their construction inspectors. That wasn't enough, however, said the newspaper which added this:

... The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration should really take the lead in this area to ensure that training for crane operators coincides with changes in the industry. About 80 workers each year die from crane-related incidents, according to OSHA.

It just so happens that OSHA has been working on an update of federal crane safety rules which apparently haven't been revised in more than 30 years despite numerous advances in crane technology--the equipment being more hydraulic and computerized now than they were decades ago, according to this piece from this Seton Alerts for Safety newsletter.

In August, OSHA is scheduled to issue what's called a notice of proposed rule-making, essentially the new rules for operating construction cranes that it arrived at by having industry experts agree on what the new rules should be.

FULL story at link.