Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/08/17/2012-20171/cranes-and-derricks-in-construction-demolition-and-underground-construction
Timestamp: 2015-11-27 17:16:26
Document Index: 81308013

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', 'art 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', 'art 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926', '§ 1926']

Dates: This direct final rule will become effective on November 15, 2012 unless OSHA receives a significant adverse comment to this direct final rule or the companion proposal by September 17, 2012. If OSHA receives adverse comment, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the Federal Register. Submit comments to this direct final rule, including comments to the information-collection (paperwork) determination (described under the section titled AGENCY DETERMINATIONS), hearing requests, and other information by September 17, 2012. All submissions must bear a postmark or provide other evidence of the submission date.
-49730 (9 pages)
Document Number: 2012-20171
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-20171 Related Topics
OSHA determined that the subject of this rulemaking is suitable for direct final rulemaking. Under the final rule for cranes and derricks in construction, most construction work involving cranes and derricks falls under new subpart CC of 29 CFR 1926, but underground construction and demolition remain covered under the former rule (i.e.,§ 1926.550). These amendments will result in the new subpart CC covering all construction operations, thereby improving worker safety because the new rule provides better protection to workers than the former rule. Moreover, these amendments will facilitate employer compliance by having all construction operations involving cranes and derricks subject to a single rule rather than by having a few operations subject to a different rule. In addition, this direct final rule corrects inadvertent errors made to the standards for underground construction and demolition when OSHA issued the final cranes rule. Therefore, OSHA does not expect objections from the public to this rulemaking action. Accordingly, the Agency believes the regulated community will welcome this effort to harmonize the requirements regulating crane and derrick operations in underground construction and demolition, and to remove errors that hinder interpretation and proper application of existing standards.
This direct final rule, therefore, will accomplish two goals. First, it will bring all crane and derrick use in construction work under new subpart CC. Second, it will correct the errors in the final rule that substantively altered the demolition and underground construction provisions, and replace subparagraphs § 1926.800(t)(1) through (4). Below, OSHA describes the amendments to the demolition and underground construction standards that OSHA made in the final rule for cranes and derricks in construction (including inadvertent errors), as well as the revisions and corrections to these standards made by OSHA under this direct final rule.
That section originally incorporated all requirements of subpart N for “cranes, derricks, and other hoisting equipment,” not just the requirements of subpart N's cranes and derricks standard at § 1926.550. However, the final rule did not reference other requirements of subpart N that pertain to demolition work, which include the requirements of § 1926.552 (Material hoists, personnel hoists, and elevators) and § 1926.554 (Overhead hoists). As a result, the amendment had the effect of deleting the requirement for employers engaged in demolition work to comply with §§ 1926.552 and 1926.554. Therefore, to cover all construction work under subpart CC, and to correct these errors, OSHA is amending §§ 1926.856(c) and 1926.858(b) by replacing the requirements to comply with subpart DD with requirements to comply with subpart CC, and is amending § 1926.858(b) by reinstating the requirement to comply with subpart N as well.
In this direct final rule, OSHA is amending § 1926.800(t) to extend subpart CC to underground construction, and to resolve the technical errors set forth in this section. OSHA is amending the introductory paragraph of § 1926.800(t) to restore the provision allowing employers to use cranes to hoist personnel for routine access to the underground worksites via a shaft without the need to show that conventional means of access are more hazardous or impossible for this purpose. This amendment excepts routine access of employees to an underground worksite via a shaft from the requirements of § 1926.1431(a). The requirements of § 1926.1431(a) are virtually identical to the requirements of § 1926.550(g)(2). In addition, OSHA is amending § 1926.800(t) by restoring the clause “Except as modified by this paragraph (t)” to the beginning of the introductory paragraph, and restoring § 1926.800(t)(1) through (4). OSHA is also revising the language in the introductory paragraph for clarity, and is correcting three minor grammatical errors that appeared in the text of paragraphs § 1926.800(t)(3)(vi), (t)(4)(iii), and (t)(4)(iv), as previously published in the Code of Federal Regulations.
The revisions made by this direct final rule will enable OSHA to cover all cranes and derricks used in construction under subpart CC. These revisions implement the original purpose of the rule and will benefit both employees and employers. These revisions will ensure that the significant benefits of subpart CC, which include saving 22 lives per year and preventing 175 non-fatal injuries per year compared to prior § 1926.550 (75 FR 48079), extend to demolition and underground construction. Accordingly, applying subpart CC to demolition and underground construction will ensure that construction workers in those sectors receive the same safety protections from new subpart CC as other construction workers.
This direct final rule requires no additional collection of information.
OMB's approval of OSHA's ICR under Control Number 1218-0261 already covers all collections of information required by this direct final rule, and OSHA does not believe it is necessary to submit a new ICR to OMB seeking to collect additional information under this direct final rule.
1.Revise the authority citation for subpart S of 29 CFR part 1926 to read as follows: Authority:
2.Amend § 1926.800 by revising paragraph (t) to read as follows: § 1926.800 Underground construction.
Subpart T—Demolition. Back to Top
3.Revise the authority citation for subpart T of 29 CFR part 1926 to read as follows: Authority:
4.Amend § 1926.856 by revising paragraph (c) to read as follows: § 1926.856 Removal of walls, floors, and material with equipment.
5.Amend § 1926.858 by revising paragraph (b) to read as follows: § 1926.858 Removal of steel construction.
6.Remove subpart DD. end regulatory text
3. OSHA also inadvertently listed the heading of § 1926.858 as “Removal of walls, floors and materials with equipment” (the same heading as § 1926.856), instead of “Removal of steel construction,” but this erroneous heading did not appear in the subsequent edition of the Code of Federal Regulations. Therefore, OSHA finds no need to address this error in this rulemaking.