Construction Cranes or Overhead Cranes: Which Course?
- Crane Operator Training Course (this page). The crane operator course you are on, written for construction sites. Ten units and 8 to 9 hours, from hazard recognition and power line contact through components, inspection, signals and emergency response.
- Overhead Crane Safety. For overhead and gantry cranes working inside a plant, shop or warehouse. Same load, different standard: that work sits in general industry rather than Subpart CC, and the operator rules are not the same. Buy this one if the crane is fixed to the building rather than driven to the job. View the Overhead Crane Safety
- Crane Safety for the Competent Person. For the person who oversees crane work rather than running the machine, including the authority to stop it. It runs 9 to 10 hours at $129 and ships 19 reference downloads. On most crews that is a different person from the operator, and a different purchase. View the Crane Safety for the Competent Person
- Crane Signal Person Course. For whoever directs the lift once the load leaves the operator's view. Signals are a topic in the operator course, but a signal person carries their own qualification requirement, with a practical test in front of an evaluator. View the Crane Signal Person Course
Start with the machine and where it stands. Construction crane, this course. Overhead crane inside a building, the overhead course. If the person is supervising the work rather than operating the machine, get the competent person course for them.
Who Can Operate a Crane on a Construction Site?
Under 29 CFR 1926.1427(a), a crane on a construction site may only be operated by someone who is trained, certified or licensed, and evaluated by their employer. All three are required, not just one.
- Certification comes from an accredited testing organization. The body issuing it has to be a crane operator testing organization accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, at paragraph (d). That certification runs five years and moves with the operator to a new employer.
- An employer can certify its own operators, and that one does not travel. Paragraph (e) allows an employer to certify its own operators through a program an independent auditor checks. That certification counts at that employer only, and it does not move with the operator.
- The employer evaluates the operator either way. Paragraph (f) puts an evaluation on the employer. The operator is assessed on the equipment and the work actually assigned, and that evaluation is documented and kept at the worksite while they are employed there.
- Training carries no expiry date. Retraining is triggered by performance. No validity period is set on training itself. Paragraph (b)(5) requires retraining when performance, or an evaluation of the operator's knowledge, shows it is needed, and there is no annual refresher clock anywhere in the subpart.
Paragraph (b) asks for a combination of formal and practical instruction. This course is the formal instruction: ten units, 8 to 9 hours, and a Certificate of Completion for the file. The practical instruction and the evaluation happen on the equipment.
Very well put together
very informative and interesting