NCCER and OSHA Align for Crane Safety

Washington, D.C.— The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) held a signing ceremony on May 17, 2010 to finalize OSHA's formal recognition of the NCCER Crane Operator Certification Program. The ceremony was held in the Department of Labor Building in Washington, D.C. at 3:30 p.m. Attendees of the event included the following key industry leaders representing Washington, D.C and the construction industry: Ted Blanton, President, North American Crane Bureau; Scott Cooper, Vice President, Government Relations, American National Standards Institute; Steve Greene, Vice-President, NCCER; Tim Johnson, Director of Government Outreach, NCCER; David Michaels, US Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA; Bill Parsons, Acting Director for OSHA's Directorate of Construction; Kirk Pickerel, President/CEO, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc.; Steve Sandherr, President/CEO, Associated General Contractors of America; and Don Whyte, President, NCCER.

The voluntary agreement between OSHA and NCCER will have an immediate, significant and beneficial impact on the safe operation of cranes. “Through this agreement OSHA and NCCER are working together to attain our mutual goal of improving crane safety in the construction industry,” said Bill Parsons, Acting Director for OSHA's Directorate of Construction. NCCER President Don Whyte said that the OSHA recognition for the Crane Operator Certification Program will provide significant benefit to the industry. “Certification of crane operators is critical to elevating crane safety in our industry. Having the OSHA stamp of approval further validates that our program meets the highest certification standards for crane operators.”

NCCER's Crane Operator Certification Program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under the ANSI/ISOIEC 17024 for the following scopes: Industrial/All Purpose Crane, Rubber Tire Truck Mount Crane and Rough Terrain/All Terrain Crane. For more information on OSHA's recognition of the NCCER Crane Operator Certification Program, visit nccer.org/crane.

About NCCER
NCCER is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) education foundation created by the construction industry to develop standardized curriculum with portable credentials and to help address the skilled construction workforce shortage. NCCER is recognized by the industry as the training, assessment, certification, and career development standard for the construction and maintenance craft professional. For additional information, contact NCCER customer service at 888.622.3720 or visit www.nccer.org.
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