Federal OSHA has made changes in Sub Part M, the lifting and digging standard. These changes will take effect November 8, 2010 for all OSHA governed states and February 8, 2011 for all state run programs. What does all this mean for Michigan? MIOSHA until February 9, 2011 to meet the "as effective" clause for a state run program. MITA is involved on the committee that has been working on the re-write of Part 10 - Lifting and Digging Equipment in the MIOSHA standards. That committee has submitted changes to the Commission that ultimately approves any rule changes. It is still not clear whether the Commission will approve what has been submitted or adopt the Federal Standard. The good news is, contractors will have 4 years to comply with the standard once it goes into effect. The changes will require all crane operators to be certified crane operators (CCO). The new rule also requires signal persons to obtain a certification to perform signaling activities. There are 4 options to qualify/certify a crane operator: - Go through an accredited testing organization - Have your company training program audited by an accredited organization and teach it in house - U.S. Military - State/ Local government license The first two options will be the most frequently used. The difference between option 1 and option 2 is that option 2 is not portable, meaning that if the operator leaves and goes to work for another company, he/she will have to be re-certified. A qualified signal person is one that: - Knows & understands the signals - Competent in using signals - Has basic understanding of crane operations - Has passed a verbal or written test plus a practical evaluation This can be done either by a third party evaluator or an employer-qualified evaluator. All of the information above can be found in detail at www.osha.gov. MITA is working on the details to help facilitate an accredited organization to teach a course or audit the company program for in house training. If you have any questions, contact Patrick Brown at patrickbrown@mi-ita.com or call the MITA office 517-347-8336.

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