April 22, 2009

Number of CraneSafe-certified operators in British Columbia and Yukon tops 500

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The first batch of crane operators have been certified in B.C. and the Yukon.

“The pilot program certified 140 individuals,” said Lee Middleton, managing partner with Fullford Harbour Group, the company responsible for offering the CraneSafe certification.

“There are an additional 400 individuals that have been certified as part of the first intake. So, there are approximately 540 operators that have gone through the new CraneSafe Certificate system.”

The BC Association for Crane Safety (BCACS) ran a pilot program last year to establish the system. After industry consultation, it was officially launched in December.

The association identified and registered more than 10,000 crane operators, who needed to be assessed and certified. Their names are being forwarded to Fullford CraneSafe Certification, which will contact the operators to set up an assessment appointment.

“We sent out the original letter to a batch of 1,250 people,” said Middleton.

“We launched the certification system in a controlled manner and secured premises and an assessment centre. We have nine assessors and the plan is to assess 300 crane operators a month, and to assess 10,000 incumbent operators in a two year period.”

This first group was comprised of current crane operators, who were assessed at a site of their choice and on the crane of their choice.

Mobile crane or boom truck operators have the option of driving their crane to a facility in North Delta.

Middleton said 63 per cent of those assessed were found competent and the rest were booked for reassessment.

In addition, only about 15 per cent of operators responded to the first batch of letters. Despite this, Fullford has booked another 150 individuals in B.C. and 100 in the Yukon for assessment.

“We are now sending out the second wave of letters to 1,500 operators,” said Fraser Cocks, executive director of the (BCACS).

He expects that about 14,000 people will pass through the program. This higher number includes new people coming into the system.

“If we send out the second batch of letters and the there is a similar low response rate, WorkSafeBC will have to step in to enforce the assessment regime,” said Middleton.

The contact letters are being sent out to operators in batches of 1,500 every 90 days. This strategy has been implemented to spread out the workload.

Some companies are making certification a priority.

“Eagle West operators have taken the CraneSafe certification program seriously to show that they have the required training and expertise to be a competent operator,” said Roy Popma, safety supervisor with Eagle West Cranes. “Our operators take great pride in having the opportunity to show their crane operator certification card to any asking customers or WorkSafe prevention officers.”

According to Popma, about 45 Eagle West metro mobile operators and ten tower crane operators have completed the assessment.

“Each of our operators has said, that after they had completed the program assessment, that it was a good refresher for them and a positive experience,” he said. “Safety is a number 1 priority. Our customers can be assured that when they call Eagle West for a crane, that the operator Eagle West provides is already certified.”

The BCACS in partnership with WorkSafeBC, the BC Industry Training Authority (ITA) and 52 members of the crane industry spent the last three years developing the system.

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