Debbie Dickinson on the development of crane certification in the USA Debbie Dickinson, executive director at Crane Institute of America Certification, speaks to Euan Youdale about the development of certification in the USA and how it impacts on the rest of world Part of the obstacle course used for testing during the Crane Operator Rodeo event held in Syracuse, New York, at the Empire Crane facility IC: What is the latest certification legislation in the USA? Dickinson: The OSHA 2014 requirements come into effect in 2014 from a federal standpoint. This was the biggest update in over 30 years from OSHA, which will require an accredited certification nationally recognised by NCCA or ANSI in the USA. However, there are state municipalities and major employers who have already adopted the 2014 requirements. CIC is certified by NCCA and has received a letter of preliminary approval from them, as we are being dually accredited. IC: What does the new legislation cover? Dickinson: The law requires certification by type and capacity -- that is just one of the very important stipulations in this law. Machine type means mobile crane, tower crane, overhead crane and it also encompasses different equipment used in a manner that makes it function as one of the types of equipment covered by the regulation. The certification goes up in capacity breaks from 1 tonne all the way up, covering all the different equipment types. They look at that the operator's card and say, 'this operator is using a piece