By Anna DeBattiste

2020 is a big year for New England Crane School. Since our founding in 2010, we have been gearing up for ONE REALLY BIG SCARY EVENT: The OSHA deadline for crane operator certification, which was announced in 2010 and then moved from 2014 to 2017 to 2018. This past year, the final landing of that deadline had us running around like crane operators with our heads cut off. I mean chickens…trying to cross the road. Or something like that.

1. First, for all you folks that don’t actually own and operate cranes but need to qualify signal persons and riggers, you have been responding to my newsletters for years asking, “Why is this all about crane operators? Don’t you have anything for us?” Fair question. Here’s something that distinguishes us from most other companies we know of: We issue you “qualified signal person and basic rigging” cards that do not have expiration dates on them. We know you like that, and that’s why we do it. OSHA does not require expiration dates on those cards. But we also know that it can be problematic. If you take that card as being good forever, you may be taking a risk, depending on how often your people work with cranes. And I don’t just mean a compliance risk, I mean a safety risk. If your people are getting rusty and giving wrong signals or rigging unsafely, the card they have in their wallet really doesn’t matter. What we are considering, and we would like your feedback on this, is a new two-part class format:

7:00 am, “recert” candidates arrive and take our tests. If they pass, we issue new cards with updated qualification dates. This service would be free to our previous customers if they pass the tests.
9:00 am, new candidates and unsuccessful recert candidates arrive and take our full class at the normal price.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts about this. It is just an idea at this point, and not a plan.

2. For crane operator certification needs, we are looking at re-formatting our NCCER cert classes into two categories:

a. Recert classes, which consist of one day in the classroom for written exam preparation, and one day for exams. We would send study materials in advance for this class, and ask candidates to do some reading and practice tests before they arrive for the classroom day.

 

b. Rookie classes, which would consist of a full five-day week, including two days of practical training on the crane, with further recommendations either for apprenticeship back at your company, or private hourly consulting with us, depending on your needs. Candidates would take their written exams during this intitial week, but would come back at a later date for their practical exams. We are still fleshing this option out and would love to have customer feedback.

3. For crane operator certification for those who prefer an NCCCO certification (CCO for short) we will continue to have the same option, which is a five-day class for experienced operators at Shawmut Equipment that includes some practice time to get ready for the CCO practical exams. We are also working on having a CCO test site in Vermont by next year. Recert candidates are welcome in this class at a reduced price that includes 2.5 days of classroom prep and the written exams. Exam categories offered include hydraulic fixed cab (TSS), hydraulic swing cab (TLL), and lattice truck or crawler (LBC or LBT, but currently only for those qualified to test with friction controls). This option is only viable for very experienced operators who operate in a high production environment, so we do not feel we can offer a public rookie class option at this time. But we are always available to discuss onsite/private consulting for rookies on an hourly basis.

If you’re still wondering about the difference between CCO and NCCER, you can read more about it here.

4. We will continue to offer our services on an hourly consulting basis to companies who haven’t yet qualified their operators and need external resources to do so. If you’re not aware of OSHA’s qualification requirement and/or haven’t met it yet, be aware that the deadline was February 7th of this year. Qualification is different than certification, and you can read more about it here.

5. We are working on new class options for working with overhead/bridge cranes, either as an operator or as a rigger or both.

6. Lastly, we are planning to put more focus on our options for foreman, supers and managers who need to get more savvvy working with crane operations. We will offer our lift director course again this winter, and we may offer a public class option for managing crane safety. We also have both courses available for groups on an onsite basis.

As always, call or email Anna for more information at anna@newenglandcraneschool.com, 303-817-5663.