DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Workers operating equipment like this lattice boom crawler crane being used on the site of the new Kakaako medical complex will need to be certified as of Oct. 1.
New rules force
crane operators
to get on the stickTest scores and experience,
or 'stick time,' are reviewed in
a new state certification process
With an Oct. 1 enforcement date looming for a 1998 law requiring crane operators to be certified, questions remain about which cranes are meant to be covered under the statute and how fines for potential violations will be determined.
CORRECTION
Saturday, Sept. 27, 2003>> Gary Wiseman is president of the Associated Builders and Contractors in Honolulu. An article on Page E1 Sunday misidentified him as executive director of the General Contractors Association of Hawaii.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Even though the law was passed several years ago, administrative rules covering the law were not promulgated until November 2002.
Prior to the law, crane operators received training either from the Operating Engineers Local 3 or on the job from employers.
The new law will require all employers to show proof that their crane operators have been certified to standards set by the National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators or an equivalent body.
Crane operators will have to present evidence to the state Department of Labor's newly-formed Hoisting Machine Operators Advisory Board. It will be up to the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division, or HIOSH, to enforce the law and mete out fines.
According to a statement released by DLIR, employers who employ crane operators to perform construction without a state certificate after Oct. 1 are subject to citations and penalties of up to $70,000. Crane operators who knowingly operate a crane without the requisite certification may be denied future certification.
Certification also requires that applicants pass a physical exam and a drug test.
Its costs $500 to be certified with the state for five years, said Lora Contreras, executive director of the advisory board.
But there will be some accommodation for long-time crane operators to meet the educational requirements for certification, she said. The board grandfathered in a special one-time certificate, which costs $300 for two years, she said.
"That is so some of the older men have more time to study. In order to get that certificate all they need to do is have their employer write to the board to say their employee was trained on the job. Once that is verified we can issue a special certificate which will buy them either the time to study or to retire," she said.
In recent years, companies working on some military bases and under federal contract have been required to use crane operators certified to national standards, said Patrick Rolison, president of Hawaiian Crane and Rigging Ltd. which hires out fully-operated cranes.
Rolison said his operators, who are union members, went through went through the union-sponsored certification class, as well as training provided by the company that meets the new standards.
But not everyone in the industry has embraced the idea of the having to make sure all their crane operators get certified with the state. Even the state and the City & County of Honolulu initially asked to be exempted from the law, Contreras said.
"There was some resistance from the state and the city and county. They wanted an exemption because they don't use crane operators that much. But we got an Attorney General's opinion and there is no exemption. It is a safety issue," she said.
So far the board has certified about 125 operators and there are about 120 applicants waiting to be certified, Contreras said.
But Contreras said no one is really sure how many crane operators are out there needing to be certified, because not all belong to the union and some may not be actively doing that kind of work.
"It's a hard figure to determine," Contreras said.
One issue for many long-time crane operators may be completing the required schooling and testing, said Ed Ventula, president of Crane & Rigging Training and Consulting. Ventula, who worked at Pearl Harbor as a crane operator until retirement, runs crane, rigging training and safety classes.
The crane operator training class costs $4,500, which includes the national organization test fees. The state license costs an additional $50 for a processing fee and an additional $500 for the certificate, Ventula said.
Since the law was passed last year, Ventula said about 44 people have been through his class.
Ventula said the national standards test is difficult.
"On the mainland, it's a 50 to 60 percent failure rate," he said.
But Ventula said his company will train operators until they pass the test.
Ventula predicts the need for crane operators will become even greater in the next few years if Hawaii's congressional delegation is successful in the aircraft carrier group home ported at Pearl Harbor.
"When the carrier group come to Pearl Harbor, that would be about another 700 workers needed. Private industry will get most of the surface craft work. About 21 trained crews of about 5 would be needed around the clock," he said.
The issue of the cost of state certification has been raised by some in the 150-member General Contractors Association who would be affected by the new law, said Gary Wiseman, the group's executive director.
While only a handful of the association's members would be directly affected by the new certification, Wiseman said they wonder why there is a need for high state fees on top of the NCCCO's fees for written and practical testing.
Ernie Balatincz, site safety and health officer for Nova Group Inc., said his company plans to bring someone in from the mainland to give the 40-hour course. The company has one operator who has been trained and certified with the National Crane Institute, but Balatincz believes the individual will still have to undergo the NCCCO course and testing.
"It will still cost us about $4,000 plus his wages when he goes to the class," he said.
He's also not happy about paying the additional money to the state for the processing fee and the certificate.
DLIR officials also have some concerns about the statute.
"We would like to re-convene the board to address the rules relating to fines and what qualifies as a hoisting crane or a hoisting machine. These are not defined in the rules or the statute," said James Hardaway, a DLIR spokesman.
But according to Patrick Conroy, vice president of risk control services at King & Neel Inc., an insurance agency and surety bonding company that works with contractors, the law is specific about which cranes will be affected.
"It's any mobile crane over five tons. It has to do with the weight of the crane, not the type of work," he said.
Even though he thinks a law that would improve crane safety is a good idea, Conroy would like to see some of the wording in the statute changed next year as well as some of the costs addressed.
He also believes the costs involved for certification are a burden -- especially for small companies.
With costs incurred for NCCCO training, the practical and written exams plus state fees, Conroy believes it would cost a private business between $7,000 and $7,500 to comply.
And that's just the beginning.
"And that's just to get you into church. It doesn't get you in the pew. Most people haven't been in school for a long time. The other burden is the English language. You have to be able to read and understand English. Many of our operators are limited in English speaking capabilities. Then there is the math as well," he said.
Conroy notes that the issues first raised by the city and county and the state about certification for their employees were related to language in the statute about hours of experience required.
"They questioned a stipulation in the standard that requires the operator to have 1,000 of stick time. The city and county and the state have many workers who operate cranes and do not meet that qualification because they have many workers assigned to operate different types of equipment," he said.
Like others, Conroy was not sure of the number of operators statewide.
"If you take all the small contractors, the mom and pops, the state, city and county and the union operators it would be upwards of 1,000. I think that number is realistic. But there are many other types of cranes and there are a lot of multicrane operators," he said.
At Dick Pacific, one of the state's largest construction firms, crane operators have been certified for about two years, said Tracy Lawson, the firm's safety director.
"We felt it was necessary for our workers to make sure there is a certain level of competency. We were also under the expectation that this law would come about," she said.
Of all equipment on the construction site, Lawson believes cranes have the most potential for catastrophic damage.
Still she concedes the costs involved are significant.
"Whether you are large or small it's a lot. But then you have to compare it to what a crane accident would cost," she said.
Both Lawson and Conway said the federal government is now looking at making certification a nationwide requirement.
"I believe we will be in the forefront of what will become national requirement. It's coming. How soon it gets here I don't know but whether it's a state or federal mandate, it's going to be a requirement," Lawson said.
National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators
Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health Division
