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An expert panel discusses safety, operator certification and economic challenges.
Participants: John Mortensen, President of Jones Sign (De Pere, WI); Bud Wilson, Owner of The Crane School (DeLand, FL); Jim Glazer, President & CEO of Elliott Equipment Co. (Omaha, NE); Dick Whitteberry, Director of Regional Services, North American Signs (South Bend, IN)
With OSHA regulations changed and changing, and companies struggling to compete in a challenging economy, representatives from sign companies, as well as the crane-truck training and manufacturing industries, discuss installation safety, operator certification and more in this excerpted discussion.
ST: OSHA’s 2010 crane standard revision required certification for crane operators who use machines that lift more than 2,000 lbs. How has this affected the sign industry?
John Mortensen: We run crews around the country to major projects where they stay for weeks or months. Different areas enforce that law more strictly than others, so we’ve had to get all our crane operators certified, starting about three years ago.
-->ST: Which areas are more strict than others?
John: It’s really random. We went out to Sparks, NV, near Reno, and it was very letter-of-the-law. You go to other places, big cities – we spent some time in Dallas – there is no enforcement at all. All OSHA codes rely on their local people to either enforce them or some other rule that they have.
ST: We’ve heard about sign companies using rerating kits that reduce cranes’ lifting capacity below 2,000 lbs., which then exempts them. How prevalent is this?
Jim Glazer: We’ve had a lot of interest and inquiries into it, but the [November 2014, OSHA compliance] deadline is still a bit away before it needs to go into effect. I think people may be trying to do research on what’s going on, but haven’t quite pulled the trigger, and we don’t think they necessarily will pull the trigger until it gets a bit closer.
ST: Tell me about sign-industry specific crane needs.
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