July 23, 2008

Plan to certify B.C. crane operators continues

BRADLEY FEHR

editor

The intended deadline may have passed, but the process for certifying crane operators in B.C. is still underway.

“It’s a much bigger project than anybody anticipated,” said Fraser Cocks, executive director of the British Columbia Association for Crane Safety, which is working with the B.C. Industrial Training Authority to make the certification happen.

Provincial legislation stated that all crane operators in the province must be certified by July 1, but the two groups are still working out the details of the certification.

In addition, the process was slowed when thousands more crane operators applied for the certification than was expected.

The pilot program for testing the operators finished a couple of weeks ago and now the data will be sent to industry stakeholders and analyzed.

More than 100 crane operators went through the test program.

“The next step will be to validate the findings,” Cocks explained.

He said that while it is important to get the certification in place in a timely manner, especially in light of the report about the death of a young crane operator working on the Canada Line, other factors come into play too.

“We want a quality product,” he said. “It’s more about doing it properly now.”

The assessments are done in the crane the operator will actually use, rather than in an unfamiliar machine or by written test.

“The bottom line is: You have to know how to use your crane,” he said, adding that they are not there to put anyone out of work, rather it is to ensure that crane operator have the necessary skills to do their job safely.

Those who fail will have to brush up on their skills and retake the test.

Cocks said that not everyone who passed through the pilot program passed, but that is part of the learning process for everyone involved.

“There is no one size fits all,” he said.

“It’s a complicated model.”

Another issue with the process is that of liability for the body that awards the certification. He said that is currently being worked out as part of the process, but it is not a sticking point or holding up the certification as some media have reported.

He is aiming at rolling out the new process soon.

“We’re hoping to be ready to launch in September, but that could change,” he said.

“We’re going through a step by step process.”

Canadian premiers agreed last week to a labour mobility pact to cut down barriers for workers across the nation.

Cocks said it’s too early to tell what impact this will have on B.C. crane operator’s certification, but that his group has been in discussion with Alberta and Ontario since the start of the plans to certify B.C. crane operators and that the Yukon has recently joined the talks.

Ontario already has a practical assessment built into its system and some aspects were incorporated in the B.C. assessment pilot program.

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