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which specializes in crane and rigging training and consulting. He is a board member of the Association of Crane and Rigging Professionals. Active in industry standards committees, he is vice chairman of ASME B30 main committee and a voting member of several B30 subcommittees.

This regulation now requires a level of knowledge that’s unprecedented in a formal way. The signalperson is required to have knowledge of crane operations and understand how a signal affects the crane’s capability and capacity. Signalpersons used to simply be a separate set of eyes on the ground, helping the operator get the load from Point A to Point B. Now the person in this position is more accountable to help the whole crew and to ensure the load is taken along a path that minimizes risk to others and lowers the risk to the crane.

For example, a signalperson needs to know that booming down typically loses capacity, booming up gains capacity, boom extend loses capacity, and boom retract gains capacity. This is a level of responsibility that the signalperson has not had before.

In addition, signalpersons must prove they are capable of signaling by written or oral testing and by performance. It wasn’t that long ago for the youngest, least experienced person to be assigned the task of signaling because the seasoned people were involved in rigging, blocking, and load-handling activities.

Today, at least two groups offer qualification using the certification method, and more are on the horizon. But be careful with the word “certified.” While a certified signalperson would meet OSHA’s requirements, OSHA only calls for a “qualified” signalperson. That can be achieved in a variety of ways: Employers can offer their own documented program or candidates can be tested by a third-party evaluator, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a certifying group. The advantage of using a certifying group, however, is that the signalperson’s qualifications are portable from job to job.

One other key point: In the section on signaling, information on hand signals and radio communication has expanded, and now calls for a formal three-step process. Those steps are: 1) function and direction, 2) distance or speed, and 3) function and stop. These steps are also identified in ANSI B30.5 in the same vernacular.

However, the new regulation was not so detailed with its wording on what defines a “qualified” rigger. The rule calls for a qualified rigger, but it doesn’t go much further than that.

Rigger (Section 1926.251, 753, 1401, 1404, 1425)

While it’s a start that OSHA has identified the need for qualified riggers, it is unfortunate that the regulation doesn’t spell out what a qualified rigger needs to know. In any given year I am reviewing a half dozen cases involving rigging accidents. I’m just one of many people who regularly deal with those cases in court. There are still hundreds of rigging accidents that don’t get OSHA’s attention. In the construction crane arena, the assembly/disassembly director must have a qualified rigger performing the rigging (see 1926.1404). Also, in the general rigging of materials on the construction site, OSHA requires the materials to be rigged by a qualified rigger (see 1926.1425).

The steel erector’s code, Subpart R, also names the rigger but goes a step further. In 1926.753.(c)(2), for example, “the qualified rigger shall