July 28, 2008

Crane certification process underway in British Columbia

BRADLEY FEHR

Staff writer

The intended deadline may have passed, but the process for certifying crane operators in B.C. is still underway.

“It’s a much bigger project than anybody anticipated,” said Fraser Cocks, executive director of the British Columbia Association for Crane Safety, which is working with the B.C. Industrial Training Authority to make the certification happen.

Provincial legislation stated that all crane operators in the province must be certified by July 1, but the two groups are still working out the details of the certification.

In addition, the process was slowed when thousands more crane operators applied for the certification than was expected.

The pilot program for testing the operators finished a couple of weeks ago and now the data will be sent to industry stakeholders and analyzed.

More than 100 crane operators went through the test program.

“The next step will be to validate the findings,” Cocks explained.

He said that while it is important to get the certification in place in a timely manner, especially in light of the report about the death of a young crane operator working on the Canada Line, other factors come into play too.

“We want a quality product,” he said. “It’s more about doing it properly now.”

The assessments are done in the crane the operator will actually use, rather than in an unfamiliar machine or by written test.

“The bottom line is: You have to know how to use your crane,” he said, adding that they are not there to put anyone out of work, rather it is to ensure that crane operator have the necessary skills to do their job safely.

Those who fail will have to brush up on their skills and retake the test.

Cocks said that not everyone who passed through the pilot program passed, but that is part of the learning process for everyone involved.

“There is no one size fits all,” he said.

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