New DOB Requirement: Crane Lift Directors Need a License to Operate
In February of 2016 a crane fell in Tribeca due to high winds as the operator was trying to lower it. One pedestrian was killed.
Responding to past crane accidents on New York City construction sites, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) is about to make the role of Lift Director into one that will require a license to practice. The Lift Director supervises the hoisting of materials up a building by a crane. The requirement will go into effect January 1, 2025.
The requirement is intended to place more safety controls around the dangerous task of using a crane to lift heavy materials from the ground, through the air, and up to heights that can reach over 1,000 feet. Paul Primiano, the director of training at the LiUNA training center in Astoria, where concrete and metal construction union members have been getting trained on crane operation and safety for years, said, “Any efforts that can prevent accidents from happening, that can protect workers and the general public, are worthwhile efforts.”
Why DOB is Acting Now
Using a crane to hoist multiple tons of building materials up hundreds of feet requires an awareness of the machinery, the weather, the activity on the ground, and on the building. It is a complex task that unfortunately has resulted in some tragic accidents here.
In March of 2017, a 54-year-old Portuguese immigrant worker and New Jersey resident, was killed when a crane operator was lifting a load and lost control of it. The load fell and struck the worker. In February of 2016 a pedestrian on the street was killed when strong winds caused a crane to fall from the top of a Tribeca construction site. In 2015, a crane dropped an air-conditioning unit 28 stories to the street in Midtown Manhattan. Seven people suffered minor injuries in that episode. In 2012, one person was killed and four others were hurt when a 170-foot crane collapsed at a construction site where crews were extending the No. 7 train line.
“Union concrete and iron workers get this training already. We’ve been offering crane operation classes, rigging supervisor classes, lift director classes, (crane) signal person licensing for years."
Unions Are Ready
Mr. Primiano explained that the union members he trains are ready for DOB’s licensing requirement. He said, “Union concrete and iron workers get this training already. We’ve been offering crane operation classes, rigging supervisor classes, lift director classes, (crane) signal person licensing for years. But because the DOB Lift Director license requirement is new, our guys will have to take some more hours of training. We’re licensed by DOB to provide that training and the members are already taking it on.”
This is why Mr. Primiano believes that unions are not, nor have they been, the problem when it comes to crane accidents. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “The new license requirement is a good thing. It should make crane operation safer. But for the license to be truly effective we need some way to empower the Lift Directors when they disagree with their bosses and challenge them.”
A Possible Snag
He explained that when a worker receives a Lift Director license, they become responsible for the successful operation of that crane on the job site. If something goes wrong with a hoist, the Lift Director will take the blame. Many general contractors will subcontract the crane operations to another company. Mr. Primiano said, “If that subcontractor sees something wrong in the crane setup they’re going to raise their issues to the general contractor. But if those issues are going to cost significant time or money to correct, the GC now has a problem. And if it’s an unscrupulous GC who doesn’t want to lose time or spend the money fixing whatever the problem is, they could just fire that subcontractor and find another one who won’t make trouble.”
He asked, “So how do we police against Lift Directors making safety claims that end up getting them fired by their bosses? How many crane operators are not going to bring up issues that they see because they know they’ll be fired, or maybe left out of future projects by that GC? I think we need protections put in place to prevent that kind of manipulation.”
Once Again, Unions Stand for What’s Right
Such manipulation won’t be a problem on a union work site, Mr. Primiano believes. “A responsible contractor who employs union workers knows that they put safety first – their own and the safety of everyone around the work site. All union members are properly trained for the tasks they perform. And unions have a shop steward representing them on the site. So if a licensed Lift Director says there’s an issue with a crane on a union job site, that issue will get addressed.”
The requirement that all Lift Directors on major construction jobs be licensed is a good step toward safer construction for us all. But once again, the expected practices of unprincipled non-union bosses introduces a level of serious skepticism.
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