Apr 7, 2009 7:59 pm US/Eastern
Stricter Crane Regulations In Effect
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Crane safety is being increased in Maryland following a number of serious accidents. New regulations are in effect to protect workers.
CBS
Crane safety is being increased in Maryland following a number of serious accidents. New regulations are in effect to protect workers.
Weijia Jiang reports on the changes.
Maryland regulations are among the strictest in the entire country. Although there are a lot of details, the bottom line is very basic -- to save lives.
Last April at the Annapolis Towne Centre, rescue efforts turned into a recovery after a frightening crane accident.
"Workers were in the process of dismantling the nose or the end section of the crane when apparently something went wrong," said Chief Michael Cox, Anne Arundel County Fire.
A 44-year-old construction worker was trapped and ultimately crushed in between two sections of the crane, 200 feet above ground. Another person was injured.
Along with several other crane accidents nationwide, that fatality sparked new safety regulations in Maryland that went into effect Monday.
"Because of lack of manpower, lack of training, we just grab anyone to put into one of the slots. Now, they have to make sure he adheres their regulations," said Ronald DeJuliis, Md. Labor and Industry Commissioner.
The new regulations require workers to be trained on different levels depending on their exact job. Employers must keep training records and operators must perform daily crane inspections.
"It's a lot to think about when you are doing this," said Terri Trott.
Trott is a manger for H&E Equipment, a company that rents and services cranes. Trott says training is the only way to ensure operators can land safely after working with intense systems so high above the ground.
"When there is a crane accident you can usually point out two or three things that have gone wrong and they are small things. But when you add them together it can become catastrophic," said Trott.
The regulation requires intensive training not only for the crane operators, but also for the workers who load the cranes up and also for the ones who signal the operators from the ground.
"First they will probably self-police their work, their projects and then we in turn will do spot checks, said DeJuliis.
State inspectors will be checking for compliance, but as a transition period they will not be handing out any citations or penalties from now until the end of the year.
Although there are some federal safety standards for crane operation, they have not been updated since 1968.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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