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Alaska employers are forewarned that the state Labor Commissioner is focusing on safety regulations regarding the use of cranes in the workplace.

 

A number of serious crane accidents in New York and across the country have prompted these changes. More recently, a crane tipped over and crushed a spectator during a building ceremony in Oklahoma. Other fatal crane accidents have taken place in Nevada, Florida and Texas in just the past few months.

 

The Alaska Labor Commissioner Click Bishop says, “These crane accidents illustrate the importance of crane and jobsite safety. In Alaska, we have not had a crane-related fatality for several years and I intend to keep it that way with a proactive safety effort.”

 

This means that Alaska employers can expect more frequent safety inspections, stronger enforcement of existing regulations and stiffer penalties for any violations.

 

Commissioner Bishop added, “We ask all employers who use cranes to review crane lifting and safety policies, check cranes for mechanical integrity, and ensure crane operators are qualified and use the appropriate safety procedures.”

 

Alaska Occupational Safety and Health regulations require employers that use cranes to make sure that the employees operating them have appropriate training, knowledge and experience. Employers are also required to make sure that crane operators are physically capable of the task.

 

Officials at AKOSH emphasize that it is the employer’s responsibility to make workers aware of the hazards of operating cranes, according to a recent press release from the Alaska Department of Labor. Employers should regularly check the crane and rigging, and replace or repair them when necessary. Employers must also make sure that helpers assigned to the crane crew are property trained in load limits, rigging and signals to communicate with the crane operator.

 

“I ask that all employers, safety professionals, crane operators and other concerned Alaskans stand by me and make sure that ‘we all go home safe tonight,’” Commissioner Bishop said.

 

For more information on crane standards in Alaska, employers can contact the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Consultation and Training Section at 800-656-4972.

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