Crane operator rules in Kentucky

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The sources are Kentucky's administrative regulation 803 KAR 2:440 on the General Assembly's site, and OSHA's published text of 29 CFR 1926.1400, 1926.1423 and 1926.1427. The national picture is on the parent page, cranes in tree work.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Rule	803 KAR 2:440, Cranes and derricks in construction
Authority	KRS 338.051(3) and 338.061, the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board
Federal text adopted	29 CFR 1926, Subpart CC, with the changes in Section 3 of the regulation
Operator rule	No Kentucky-written operator rule; 1926.1427 applies through the adoption
Fall protection height	10 feet in three places where the federal text says 15 feet
Recodified	From 803 KAR 2:505 on January 7, 2021; technical amendment effective November 10, 2022

What the regulation does

The regulation's own statement of purpose says KRS 338.051(3) requires the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to make occupational safety and health regulations and lets it reference federal standards. Section 1 defines five terms, including the Secretary of Labor as the Secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet or the Commissioner of the Department of Workplace Standards. Section 2 then says the construction industry shall comply with 29 CFR 1926, Subpart CC, Cranes and Derricks in Construction, except as modified by those definitions and by Section 3. The rest of the regulation is Section 3, fall protection.

The operator rule

Kentucky does not write its own operator qualification text in this regulation, so the federal rule at 1926.1427 reaches Kentucky employers through Section 2. OSHA's published text of 1926.1427 says an employee who has not been certified or licensed and evaluated may only operate equipment as an operator-in-training under supervision. It also says operators of derricks, sideboom cranes and equipment with a maximum manufacturer-rated hoisting capacity of 2,000 pounds or less are not required to comply with that section, though the training requirements in the sections for those machines continue to apply.

Where Kentucky differs from the federal text

Section 3 of 803 KAR 2:440 replaces three federal paragraphs of 1926.1423, the crane fall protection section. The table sets the Kentucky wording beside the federal wording OSHA publishes.

Paragraph of 1926.1423	Federal text	Kentucky text
(e)(1)(iii), horizontal lattice booms	Fall distance of 15 feet or more	Fall distance of 10 feet or more
(f), assembly and disassembly	Unprotected side or edge more than 15 feet above a lower level	More than 10 feet above a lower level
(h)(2), tower crane erecting, climbing and dismantling	Unprotected side or edge more than 15 feet above a lower level	More than 10 feet above a lower level

Both versions of paragraph (f) keep the same exceptions for an employee at or near draw-works while the equipment is running, in the cab, or on the deck. Paragraph (h)(1) for tower cranes, with its 6 feet figure, is not among the paragraphs Kentucky replaces.

Tree work

The Kentucky regulation does not mention tree work. The federal scope section it adopts, 1926.1400, lists what Subpart CC does not cover, and item (c)(13) reads "Tree trimming and tree removal work." Whether another Kentucky rule covers a crane used in tree work is not stated in the regulation.