BILL REQ. #:  H-1888.1 

Read first time 02/12/2007.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to crane safety; adding new sections to chapter 49.17 RCW; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout sections 1 through 4 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Apprentice operator or trainee" means a crane operator who has not met requirements established by the department under section 4 of this act.
     (2) "Certified third-party crane inspector" means a crane inspector who has been certified by the department.
     (3) "Crane" means power-operated equipment used in construction that can hoist, lower, and horizontally move a suspended load. "Crane" includes, but is not limited to: Articulating cranes, such as knuckle-boom cranes; crawler cranes; floating cranes; cranes on barges; locomotive cranes; mobile cranes, such as wheel-mounted, rough-terrain, all-terrain, commercial truck mounted, and boom truck cranes; multipurpose machines when configured to hoist and lower and horizontally move a suspended load by means of a winch or hook; industrial cranes, such as carry-deck cranes; dedicated pile drivers; service/mechanic trucks with a hoisting device; a crane on a monorail; tower cranes, such as fixed job, hammerhead boom, luffing boom, and self-erecting; pedestal cranes; portal cranes; overhead and gantry cranes; straddle cranes; side-boom tractors; derricks; and variations of such equipment.
     (4) "Crane operator" means an individual engaged in the operation of a crane.
     (5) "Qualified crane operator" means a crane operator who meets the requirements established by the department under section 4 of this act.
     (6) "Professional engineer" means a professional engineer as defined in RCW 18.43.020.
     (7) "Safety and health standard" means a standard adopted under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Sections 1 through 4 of this act apply to cranes when used with attachments. Attachments, whether crane-attached or suspended, include, but are not limited to, hooks, magnets, grapples, clamshell buckets, orange peel buckets, concrete buckets, drag lines, personnel platforms, augers, or drills and pile-driving equipment.
     (2) Sections 1 through 4 of this act do not apply to:
     (a) A crane while it has been converted or adapted for a nonhoisting or nonlifting use including, but not limited to, power shovels, excavators, and concrete pumps;
     (b) Power shovels, excavators, wheel loaders, backhoes, loader backhoes, and track loaders when used with or without chains, slings, or other rigging to lift suspended loads;
     (c) Automotive wreckers and tow trucks when used to clear wrecks and haul vehicles;
     (d) Service trucks with mobile lifting devices designed specifically for use in the power line and electric service industries, such as digger derricks (radial boom derricks), when used in the power line and electric service industries for auguring holes to set power and utility poles, or handling associated materials to be installed or removed from utility poles;
     (e) Equipment originally designed as vehicle-mounted aerial devices (for lifting personnel) and self-propelled elevating work platforms;
     (f) Hydraulic jacking systems, including telescopic/hydraulic gantries;
     (g) Stacker cranes;
     (h) Powered industrial trucks (forklifts);
     (i) Mechanic's truck with a hoisting device when used in activities related to equipment maintenance and repair;
     (j) Equipment that hoists by using a come-along or chainfall;
     (k) Dedicated drilling rigs;
     (l) Gin poles used for the erection of communication towers;
     (m) Tree trimming and tree removal work;
     (n) Anchor handling with a vessel or barge using an affixed A-frame; and
     (o) Roustabouts.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department shall establish, by rule, a crane certification program for cranes used in construction. In establishing rules, the department shall consult nationally recognized crane standards.
     (2) The crane certification program must include, at a minimum, the following:
     (a) The department shall establish certification requirements for third-party crane inspectors, including an experience requirement, an education requirement, a training requirement, and other necessary requirements determined by the director;
     (b) The department shall establish a process for certified third-party crane inspectors to issue temporary certificates of operation for a crane and the department to issue a final certificate of operation for a crane after a certified third-party certifier determines that the crane meets safety and health standards, including meeting or exceeding national periodic inspection requirements recognized by the department;
     (c) Crane owners must ensure that cranes are inspected and load proof tested by a certified third-party crane inspector at least annually and after any significant modification or significant repairs of structural parts. If the use of weights for a unit proof load test is not possible or reasonable, other recording test equipment may be used;
     (d) Crane owners must ensure that tower cranes and tower crane assembly parts are inspected by a certified third-party crane inspector both prior to assembly and following erection of the tower crane on a new site;
     (e) Crane owners must have an independent professional engineer review and approve the plans for any nonstandard tower crane base prior to certification;
     (f) A certified third-party crane inspector must notify the department and the crane owner if, after inspection, the certified third-party crane inspector finds that the crane does not meet safety and health standards, including meeting or exceeding national periodic inspection requirements recognized by the department. A certified third-party crane inspector shall not attest that a crane meets safety and health standards until any deficiencies are corrected and the correction is verified by the certified third-party crane inspector; and
     (g) No certified third-party crane inspector may inspect a crane in which the crane inspector or his or her employer has a direct or indirect financial interest, nor may a certified third-party crane inspector certify equipment that belongs to his or her employer, unless otherwise authorized by the department. A certified third-party crane inspector may not certify equipment or devices that he or she has manufactured or helped to manufacture, if the equipment is owned by his or her employer, unless otherwise authorized by the department.
     (3) Any crane operated in the state must have a valid certificate of operation issued by the department posted in the operator's cab or station.
     (4) Certificates of operation issued by the department under the crane certification program established in this section are valid for one year from the date of issuance.
     (5) This section does not apply to maritime cranes regulated by the department.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Except for training purposes as provided in subsection (3) of this section, an employer or contractor shall not permit a crane operator to operate a crane unless the crane operator is a qualified crane operator.
     (2) The department shall establish, by rule, requirements that must be met to be considered a qualified crane operator. In establishing rules, the department shall consult nationally recognized crane standards. The rules must include, at a minimum, the following:
     (a) The crane operator must have a valid crane operator certificate, for the type of crane to be operated, issued by an accredited crane operator testing organization accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency which administers written and practical examinations, has procedures for recertification that enable the crane operator to recertify at least every five years, and is recognized by the department;
     (b) The crane operator must have up to two thousand hours of documented crane operation experience, based on the crane type and capacity as determined by the department; and
     (c) The crane operator must pass a substance abuse test conducted by a recognized laboratory service.
     (3) An apprentice operator or trainee may operate a crane when:
     (a) The apprentice operator or trainee has been provided with training prior to operating the crane that enables the apprentice operator or trainee to operate the crane safely;
     (b) The apprentice operator or trainee performs operating tasks that are within his or her ability, as determined by a supervising qualified crane operator; and
     (c) The apprentice operator or trainee is under the direct and continuous supervision of a qualified crane operator who meets the following requirements:
     (i) The qualified crane operator is an employee or agent of the employer of the apprentice operator or trainee;
     (ii) The qualified crane operator is familiar with the proper use of the crane's controls;
     (iii) While supervising the apprentice operator or trainee, the qualified crane operator performs no tasks that detract from the qualified crane operator's ability to supervise the apprentice operator or trainee;
     (iv) For equipment other than tower cranes, the qualified crane operator and the apprentice operator or trainee must be in direct line of sight of each other and shall communicate verbally or by hand signals; and
     (v) For tower cranes, the qualified crane operator and the apprentice operator or trainee must be in direct communication with each other.
     (4) The department may recognize certification from another state or territory of the United States as equivalent to qualified crane operator requirements if the department determines that the other jurisdiction's credentialing standards are substantially similar to the qualified crane operator requirements.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
     The department of labor and industries shall adopt rules necessary to implement sections 1 through 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   This act takes effect January 1, 2010.