Crane Hand Signals Course

Signal Person, Rigger, Operator: Three Crane Courses

One lift, three jobs, three courses. The signal person directs the load, the rigger attaches it, and the operator runs the machine. OSHA sets separate qualification requirements for each, so a worker who does two of the jobs takes two of the courses.

• Crane Signal Person Course (this page). For the person who directs the load once it leaves the operator's view. Six parts, 5 to 6 hours, covering the Standard Method hand signals on four crane types, voice signals, and the crane hazards behind both. Take it if you are the one calling the lift. View the Crane Signal Person Course (this page)
• Rigging Training Course. For the person who attaches the load to the hook: slings, hitches, hardware and load weight. Different duties, a different OSHA qualification, and a separate course. Plenty of crews have one worker doing both jobs, and that worker needs both. View the Rigging Training Course
• Crane Operator Training Course. For the person in the seat. Setup, load charts, inspections and running the machine. It is the third corner of the same lift, and on a small crew it is often a different person again. View the Crane Operator Training Course

Start from what the person does on the lift, not from their job title. If they point, this course. If they hook, the rigging course. If they operate, the operator course. Foremen responsible for the whole crane zone usually want Crane Safety for the Competent Person on top.

Two Ways to Qualify a Signal Person Under Subpart CC

29 CFR 1926.1428 gives an employer exactly two routes to a qualified signal person: documentation from a third party qualified evaluator, or an assessment by the employer's own qualified evaluator. There is no third option, and no course is one of the two.

• Route one is a third party qualified evaluator. An outside evaluator assesses the worker and documents that they meet the requirements. NCCCO's Signal Person program is one such route, and this course is built to get a candidate ready for it. NCCCO administers its own examination separately.
• Route two is the employer's own qualified evaluator, and it does not travel. An employer can have its own qualified evaluator do the assessment instead. 1926.1428 is blunt about the catch: that assessment is not portable, and other employers are not permitted to use it. A worker qualified this way starts again at the next company.
• Either route tests two things, not one. 1926.1428(c) asks for an oral or written test and a practical test. This course is the knowledge half: the signals, the crane dynamics behind them, and the requirements at 1926.1419 through 1926.1422 that the paragraph names by number. The practical is done in front of the evaluator, on the equipment.
• The paperwork lives on the site. The employer keeps the documentation available at the site, and it has to specify each type of signaling the worker is qualified for. Hand signals and voice signals are listed separately, which is one reason this course teaches both.

So buy this for the knowledge and the preparation, then book the evaluation. $89 a seat, five to six hours, and the certificate prints the day they pass.