Safety Services Company
April 30th 2014
Safety Security Company
Because no proximity alarm or insulating link/device has been developed that meets a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) standard for cranes or derricks working near power lines – a requirement of the current standard – OSHA is making a temporary enforcement policy that has been in effect from July 26, 2012 to November 8, 2013, permanent until it changes the rule to address the unavailability of the required equipment.
This enforcement policy is effective April 30, 2014 and will continue until further notice.
The policy states that a crane or derrick may use a proximity alarm and an insulating link/device along with another measure.
Additional measures include:
Also an employer may use an insulating link/device manufactured on any date with additional protections such as adequately insulated gloves. The current regulation as it is written puts the cut-off date of non NRTL devices at November 8, 2011.
As they start the rulemaking policy for a permanent solution, OSHA will follow this temporary policy for:
When the Cranes and Derricks in Construction regulation went into effect on November 8, 2011, OSHA expected there to eventually be proximity alarm or insulating link devices that pass NRTL requirements, but because that did not happen OSHA created the temporary policy on July 2012 to last until November 8, 2013. But that deadline has come and went, so the current interpretation will now be practiced indefinitely while OSHA starts the process of changing the current rule.
2014 Interpretations
In addition to creating new and updating current regulations, OSHA publishes interpretations and answers to questions about existing rules. Here is what has been released in 2014: