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Great news for all knuckleboom crane owners and operators.

Special thanks to Patrick Mossie, fleet manager for ProBuild the nation's largest supplier of building materials and Frank Moore, NLBMDA regulatory counsel who provided expert testimony at OSHA's hearings on the knuckleboom articulating crane regulation issue.
With the extensive truck crane knowledge, leadership, and dedication shown by Mr. Pat Mossie, OSHA has finally seen the light regarding the regulation and use of knuckle boom articulating cranes in the US. Drywall and roofing suppliers equipped with the latest technologies can rejoice.
Pat Mossie's and ProBuild's hard work has finally brought to light the vast differences and safety standards of the articulating crane industry as opposed to tower (lattice) and boom stick cranes. Knuckleboom crane trucks will finally be exempt from the rules published in 1971 when delivering building materials to job sites, staging them on the ground or hoisting them onto a construction platform such as roofs or through openings when equipped with a properly functioning automatic overload prevention device
We have made significant gains here for our industry as a whole and have Mr. Pat Mossie and ProBuild to thank for it.



IMPORTANT:

The new Rule only applies to equipment used in construction it does not apply to cranes or crane operations in general industry. General industry crane and derrick operations are governed separately.

"Despite the broad definition, the Rule does not apply to all equipment that can "hoist, lower and horizontally move a suspended load." The Rule contains numerous exemptions for equipment such as excavators and backhoes. However, many of those exemptions contain important qualifications. For example, forklifts are exempt from coverage except when they are configured with a boom to move a suspended load with a winch or hook. As another example, the use of articulating/knuckle boom truck cranes to deliver materials to a construction site is exempt when the materials are transferred to the ground, but is not exempt when the same boom truck is used to put the materials in a particular sequence to be hoisted, when the materials are supported or stabilized by the boom truck during construction, or when the boom truck delivers prefabricated components such as roof trusses. The Rule provides many more examples of exempt and covered equipment."


Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 152 / Monday, August 9, 2010 / Rules and Regulations:

Paragraph ©(17) Delivery of Material to Construction Sites It is common for material that is to be used in construction work to be delivered to the construction site on a truck equipped with a lifting attachment that is used either to place the materials on the ground or to place them on the structure. For example, articulating/ knuckle-boom truck cranes are often used to deliver bundles of drywall to the site and then move the bundles from the truck up to a floor of the building under construction. To the extent these cranes are used in ''construction work,'' they fall within the scope of this final rule as defined in § 1926.1400(a).
OSHA has long taken the view that an employer who delivers materials to a construction site is not engaged in ''construction work'' if that employer's work once at the site is limited to simply placing/stacking the materials on the ground. OSHA requested comment from the public on whether the final rule should include an explicit exclusion to this effect (see 73 FR 59731, Oct. 9, 2008).
Most commenters on this issue favored such an exclusion to clarify that such equipment was not being used in construction. (ID-0145.1; -0147.1;
•        0165.1; -0184.1; -0206.1; -0218.1;
•        0232.1; -0233.1; -0235.1; -0299.1.)
Certain commenters expressed the view that any such exclusion should also extend to delivery of materials onto structures at the construction site because, in their view, this was also not a construction activity. (E.g., ID -0184.1;
•        0233.1; -0235.1.) Some of these commenters represented employers who deliver building materials such as lumber, drywall, and roofing materials.  (See, e.g., ID-0184.1; -0233.1.) Others represented employers in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) industry. (ID-
0165.1; -0235.1.) Several of the commenters pointed to the operator training and/or certification requirements in § 1926.1427 of the proposed rule as particularly burdensome given the distinctions between delivery activities and what they characterized as the more complex activities typically associated with the equipment covered by the proposed rule. (ID-0165.1; -0184.1; -0218.1;
•        0231.1; -0233.1; -0235.1.)
OSHA notes some commenter confusion regarding instances when the construction materials are not delivered to the curb or a stockyard but instead to a designated area on the construction site where the materials are staged/ organized to facilitate hoisting activities.
In these scenarios, OSHA construction standards apply. See, e.g., Letter to Johnson (2/6/08) (stacking of materials), Letter to Reynolds (1/5/01) (delivery of materials onto structure). When hoisting equipment is used to arrange the materials in a particular sequence for hoisting or to lift materials onto a structure that is under construction, it is being used to expedite work that is integral to the construction process and is, therefore, construction work.  However, to remain consistent with existing compliance guidance, this final rule states that when lifting equipment is used solely to deliver building supply materials from a supplier to a construction site by placing/stacking the materials on the ground, without arranging the materials in a particular sequence for hoisting, OSHA does not regard the delivery process as a construction activity. OSHA believes that this limited and conditional exclusion will exclude this equipment when used to perform such deliveries and address the concerns of commenters who only deliver construction materials to the ground. Construction typically consists of a process of assembling and attaching (or in some cases, disassembling) a vast variety of materials to form a building
or other structure.6 In building construction, those materials typically include small, individual items (a few examples include: nails, lumber, pipes, duct work sections, electrical items, sheet goods), large individual items (a few examples include: structural steel or precast concrete columns and beams), and prefabricated structural and building system components (a few examples include: roof trusses, precast concrete wall sections, and building machinery such as boilers, pumps, and air handling equipment). All of these items must be delivered to the jobsite and unloaded from the vehicle delivering them before they can be used in the building or structure.
C-DAC indicated that to facilitate the assembling or attaching of such items, cranes and derricks are often used to hoist and hold, support, stabilize, maneuver, or place them. Sometimes they are used to place items in a convenient location for subsequent use.  For example, they are often used to place a bundle of steel decking sheets onto the structure for later ''shaking out'' (i.e., after being landed on the structure, workers ''break'' the bundle and distribute the decking sheets for subsequent attachment). One of OSHA's construction standards contains specific requirements related to the landing and placing of such bundles (see § 1926.754(e)(1)).
Sometimes cranes and derricks are used to place an item in a specific location for immediate attachment. For example, cranes are typically used to precisely place steel columns on concrete footings, which involves aligning holes at the column's base with anchor rods/bolts in the footing so that the column can be secured to the footing. In building and bridge construction, cranes are often used to precisely place precast concrete members so that workers can attach them to other precast members (or sometimes to a structural steel frame).  Cranes are also used to place precast concrete components so that other items can be connected to them. For example, in utility and sewer construction, precast concrete manholes or vaults are placed for proper alignment with utility pipes; in residential construction, precast concrete septic systems are placed for proper location in an excavation. Clearly, such movement and placement of material by cranes and derricks is integral to the construction process, and the fact that this may be done by the vehicle that delivered the material to the site does not make it a non-construction activity.
Cranes are also commonly used to hoist building materials onto a structure for subsequent use. Although this is also a construction activity,7 OSHA determines that a limited exclusion for articulating/knuckle-boom truck cranes used for such work is appropriate to minimize having this equipment move in and out of coverage of this rule.  The record shows that articulating/ knuckle-boom truck cranes are often used to deliver sheet goods (e.g., drywall), or packaged materials (e.g., roofing shingles) to construction sites and that it is common for the delivery to be made onto the structure.  Delivering material to a structure can pose a hazard that is typically not present when material is placed on the ground: when the boom is extended, as when lifting the material to an upper floor, the possibility of exceeding the crane's rated capacity, with the resultant possibility of boom collapse and crane tipover, is present. A representative of a material delivery trade association testified that articulating/knuckle-boom cranes are equipped with automatic safety systems that detect whether the crane is close to being overloaded and automatically prevent such overloading.  (ID-0341; -0380.1; -0381.1.) The representative described a test on a crane with a load of 2,900 pounds and a maximum extension of 78 feet, 11 inches, and said that the automatic device preventing the boom from extending beyond its maximum safe length for that load and angle of 46 feet.  (ID-0341.) Thus, with a load that is typical of the loads that are often delivered, the hazard of the crane collapsing exists with the boom at far less than its maximum possible extension. Another representative of the material delivery industry, also noted the presence of such devices on the equipment used by its members and, while it asked for such equipment to be exempt completely from this rule, alternatively suggested an exemption for equipment with such devices installed.  (ID-0184.1.)
OSHA is, to a large extent, adopting the commenter's suggestion. The overloading and subsequent collapse of cranes is one of the primary hazards this final rule seeks to address. The trade association witness's testimony shows that the potential for collapse is present when articulating/knuckle-boom cranes are used to deliver materials onto a structure. The industry has, however, addressed this hazard by equipping such cranes with automatic overload prevention devices. Therefore, OSHA is excluding articulating/knuckle-boom cranes used to deliver materials onto a structure from the final rule, but only when the cranes are equipped with properly functioning automatic overload prevention devices. Without such a device, the crane is subject to all provisions of this final rule. It should be noted that electrical contact with power lines is another serious hazard covered by the final rule. The limited exemption for articulating/knuckle-boom cranes used for certain construction operations also exempts this equipment from the requirements for operations near power lines contained in the final rule. When performing an exempt operation, this equipment (like must of the other exempt equipment and operations) will be covered by revised § 1926.600(a)(6).  OSHA is limiting this exclusion to the delivery of sheet goods and packaged materials including, but not limited to: sheets of sheet rock, sheets of plywood, bags of cement, sheets or packages of roofing shingles, and rolls of roofing felt. The placement of other materials on a structure under construction is the type of core construction activity this rule seeks to address, and excluding the hoisting and movement of other types of materials, such as precast concrete members, prefabricated building sections, or structural steel members, would severely reduce the rule's effectiveness. Moreover, equipment used to lift these types of materials on construction sites is rarely, if ever, used for non-construction activities on those sites and does not often present the problem of equipment moving in and out of coverage when used for different activities.
OSHA is also limiting the exclusion by making it clear that it does not apply when the crane is used to hold, support or stabilize the material to facilitate a construction activity, such as holding material in place while it is attached to the structure. For example, while placing a package of shingles onto the roof of a structure would fall within the exemption, suspending the shingles in the air and moving them to follow the progress of the roofer would not. When the crane is being used to facilitate the construction activity, it has exceeded the ''delivery'' of goods and is therefore engaged in a process that is more complex than the scenarios addressed by the commenters who supported an exclusion for materials delivery. OSHA is also concerned that exempting this activity would provide an incentive for employers to use materials delivery cranes for other purposes, thereby undermining the rationale for the materials delivery exclusion.
In particular, OSHA declines to exclude the handling of HVACR units, as some commenters urged. Using a crane to deliver HVACR equipment is an example of using a crane to hoist and position a component of the building's mechanical systems, which is an integral part of the construction process.  According to one industry commenter, during a typical installation of a large commercial rooftop HVACR unit, a mobile crane delivers the equipment to its intended location on the roof, where an HVACR technician connects the equipment to the ventilation system.  (ID-0165.1) Thus, unlike sheet goods and packaged materials, which are not placed in their location of final use by the delivery vehicle, delivery of HVACR equipment may be integral to its installation. Like the hoisting and movement of other building components, use of cranes and derricks to move HVACR equipment falls squarely within this rule.
OSHA also received a comment from a representative of the precast concrete industry requesting the exclusion of equipment used to deliver materials such as concrete manholes, septic tanks, burial vaults, concrete block, and concrete pipe. (ID-0299.1) This commenter stated that their portion of the precast concrete industry solely delivers materials to a construction site, and believed that they simply supply materials for a construction project but are not involved in actual construction.  (ID-0299.1)
OSHA agrees that in circumstances where the equipment is used solely to deliver these types of concrete materials from a supplier to a construction site by placing/stacking the materials from the delivery vehicle to the ground in, for example, a storage or staging area, without arranging the materials in a particular sequence for subsequent hoisting, the equipment is not being used for a construction activity.  However, if the equipment is used to hoist, hold, support, stabilize or place precast concrete material as part of the installation process, it is engaged in a construction activity and would be subject to this rule. For example, a truck-mounted articulating crane may be used to maneuver a precast component such as a vault or concrete pipe from the truck to its installation point in an excavation. As previously discussed, such use is a typical construction activity.
To summarize, when a delivery vehicle is used solely to deliver building supply materials from a supplier to a construction site by placing/stacking the materials on the ground, without arranging the materials in a particular sequence for hoisting, the equipment is not being used for a construction activity and is not subject to this rule.  When an articulating/knuckle-boom truck crane that brings material to a site is used to transfer building supply sheet goods or building supply packaged materials from the vehicle onto a structure, the activity is a construction activity but the crane is excluded from this rule if it is equipped with a properly functioning automatic overload prevention device and satisfies the other requirements of the exception in § 1926.1400©(17). All other equipment that falls under § 1926.1400(a) is subject to this rule when delivering materials onto a structure.
OSHA is including in the final rule a new § 1926.1400©(17) to clarify the circumstances under which material delivery is subject to the rule. Paragraph ©(17)(i) excludes from the scope of this standard an articulating/knuckle-boom truck crane that delivers material to a construction site when it is used to transfer materials from it to the ground, without arranging the materials in a particular sequence for hoisting.
Paragraph ©(17)(ii) contains the exclusion for an articulating/knuckleboom truck crane that delivers material to a site when it is used to transfer building supply sheet goods or building supply packaged materials from it onto a structure, using a fork/cradle at the
end of the boom. This provision conditions this exclusion on the truck crane being equipped with a properly functioning automatic overload prevention device and lists examples of the sheet goods or packaged materials that qualify for the exclusion, stating
that these include, but are not limited to: sheets of sheet rock, sheets of plywood, bags of cement, sheets or packages of roofing shingles, and rolls of roofing felt. These are typical building supply materials that pose a reduced risk of falling when being lifted by the truck crane because of their configuration and/or packaging, and because the truck crane was designed to safely handle this type of material.  Any delivery activities not excluded under paragraphs ©(17)(i) and (ii) are subject to the standard. However, to avoid any possible ambiguity on this point, OSHA has included paragraph ©(17)(iii). Paragraphs ©(17)(iii)(A)-(C) list explicit activities for which the exclusion does not apply. Paragraph ©(17)(iii)(D) is included to avoid any possible implication that paragraphs ©(17)(iii)(A)-(C) represent an exclusive list of delivery activities that are subject to the final rule.