OSHA has published a final rule that clarifies certification requirements for crane operators, and maintains the employer’s duty to ensure that crane operators can safely operate the equipment.

Under the final rule, employers must train operators as needed to perform assigned crane activities, evaluate them and document successful completion of the evaluations. Employers who have evaluated operators prior to Dec. 9, 2018, will not have to conduct those evaluations again, but will only have to document when those evaluations were completed.

Under the rule, crane operators must be certified or licensed, and must receive ongoing training as necessary to operate new equipment. Operators can be certified based on the crane’s type and capacity, or type only, which ensures that more accredited testing organizations are eligible to meet the agency's certification program requirements.

The final rule revises a 2010 requirement that crane operator certification must specify the rated lifting capacity of cranes for which the operator is certified. Compliant certifications that were already issued by type and capacity are still acceptable under this final rule.

The final rule becomes effective Dec. 9, 2018; the evaluation and documentation provisions become effective Feb. 7, 2019.