[INDUSTRY NEWS]


NCCCO: OSHA Extends Operator Certification Deadline to 2018


> OSHA today published a Final Rule delaying its deadline for crane operators to be certified by one year until November 10, 2018. OSHA is also extending its employer duty to ensure that crane operators are competent to operate a crane safely for the same one-year period. The Rule takes effect immediately. The notice, which comes just one day


before the certification requirement was due to come into effect, follows publication of a Proposed Rule in August in which OSHA announced its plans for the postponement. OSHA believes that an additional year will


be sufficient to complete work on addressing the two issues that has concerned industry ever since the crane rule was published in 2010; namely, whether operators need to be certified by type and capacity, or just by type; and whether certification is sufficient by itself to deem an operator qualified to operate a crane. While OSHA is not at liberty to disclose


the exact language it will propose to fix these two issues, it has again reaffirmed its intention, first noted in its submission to the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) in 2015, “to propose removing the capacity component of certification.” OSHA also notes that it would be unfair to employers to enforce the certification requirement “before completing the separate rulemaking to change that criteria.” On the second issue, OSHA states in


this latest rulemaking that it currently is “not prepared to make a determination whether certification alone is insufficient” in determining whether an operator is qualified. The National Commission for the


Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) supported the additional delay “reluctantly” since the changes to the rule were critically important to the effectiveness of the certification requirement, said NCCCO CEO Graham Brent. However, it was important OSHA acted with urgency. “Since the positive impact of professionally developed, third-party, accredited crane operator certification on the incidence of deaths and injuries caused by crane accidents has been amply demonstrated during the more than 20 years that NCCCO has been providing it (see, for example, Cal-OSHA Study of Crane Accidents, 2008) every delay means that this nation’s workers continue to be exposed to risks that would otherwise have


been mitigated,” NCCCO stated in its official submission to OSHA in September. y


AWRF Serves Up the PIE!


> The Associated Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF) assembled in Minneapolis for the Fall 2017 General Meeting and P.I.E. on October 22-25. The Product Information Exhibition or P.I.E. is held at every third AWRF General Meeting. This fall’s event drew more than 110 exhibitors who displayed a broad array of lifting and rigging gear to the more than 600 registered attendees. Exhibitors we spoke with reported having a good number of highly productive conversations on the show floor and attendees gave the show high marks for the wide range of equipment showcased. Quite a few new products were on display including feature enhancements to existing technologies as well as new-to-the-world offerings which we’ll be writing about in future issues – watch this space! The second day of the event featured three


speakers. Don Pellow, Chair of the AWRF’s Technical Committee, had previously shared an extensive review of the causes and prevention of wire rope failure. In this event, he walked through a similar treatment of sling failures, providing attendees with actionable knowledge to put to work. Mike Lins, the Engineering Manager for


Vic’s Crane and Heavy Haul, Inc. shared his end-user perspective on rigging, reviewing lessons-learned from a wide range of fascinating events in the field. Most notable among those, he recounted his experience as a Brigade Engineering Officer during a 15-month deployment in Iraq, where he was tasked with decommissioning a number of hard-to-defend radio relay points. Thank you for your service! And in a very timely presentation,


Caroline Harris, Chief Tax Counsel and Vice President, Tax Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shared her up-to-the-minute view on the prospects for tax reform coming from Washington this year. As there has been no reform for 31 years, she laid out a strong case for tax reform as a pro-growth economic initiative based on four key principles that will determine how effective any reform will be. Those “TERP” factors are territorial treatment of income, expensing of capital investment, rates, and permanence. The next AWRF General Meeting will be


held in Scottsdale, AZ on April 22-25, 2018. Learn more at awrf.org, and we look forward to seeing you there. y


Double Acquisition for Ben-Mor


> Ben-Mor is proud to announce their newest acquisition of two leading companies in the rigging and lifting industry. The acquisition of Saturn Industries Ltd. and Roughrider Rigging became official as of September 30th, 2017. The acquisition of these two companies will allow Ben-Mor to expand its range of specialized lifting equipment with exclusive products. Saturn Industries is located in Winnipeg


and Roughrider Rigging is located in Regina and Saskatoon. Saturn Industries is also specialized in the manufacturing of custom trailers. There are 50 employees overall for the two companies. Together, it will be business as usual;


both companies will continue to operate independently. They will continue to provide excellent customer service that they have ensured over the past 40 years. In the welcoming of this double acquisition,


Ben-Mor still upholds its position of being the largest sling and cable assembly manufacturer in Canada. There are now more than 325 employees at the heart of Ben-Mor’s success and 9 locations in North America. y


Koreans do Seoul Business with DLM; DLM Adds Distributors


> A South Korean Cable Laying company visited Dynamic load Monitoring’s (DLM) Head Office in Southampton last month for product training on DLM’s unique cable working equipment soon to be used on an up and coming PLGR (Pre Lay Grapnel Run) project. PLGR is an operation undertaken prior to


laying cable and is used to clear the route, by the use of various Grapnels (also supplied by DLM) being deployed along the seabed trailing behind a vessel. The Saddleback Monitor, designed and


manufactured by DLM, is used to measure line tension on Winch rope during PLGR operations and can also be used for delicate fibre optic cable during laying. The line tension is measured by the cable passing over the chute and deflecting the load cell mounted beneath. Speed or distance of the cable can also be measured by the roller arm incorporated within the Saddleback. The device is able to detect when the grapnels on the end of the line


WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2017 7


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