Crane operator rules in Newfoundland and Labrador

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The sources are the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2012 (NLR 5/12) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (RSNL 1990 c. O-3), both published by the House of Assembly, and the Government of Canada's Job Bank. The national picture is on the parent page, cranes in tree work.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Law	Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2012, NLR 5/12, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act; cranes and hoists are in Part XIV, sections 287 to 345
Who operates a crane	A qualified person authorized to operate it; section 309(2) names a trade qualification valid in the province, an indentured apprentice, or an equivalent qualification
Work platform on an articulating boom crane	Section 198: not suspended from one; attached to one only if the maker approves the installation
Job Bank	Tower crane operator certification compulsory in Newfoundland and Labrador; mobile crane operator certification not on the compulsory list

Who may operate a crane

Section 309(1) limits the operation of a crane or hoist to a qualified person who has been given authority to run that equipment. Section 309(2) asks a crane operator for one of three things: a trade qualification valid in the province, indenture as an apprentice in that trade in the province, or equivalent qualifications as judged by the Industrial Training Division of the Department of Education. It sets start dates for that: January 1, 2011 for a mobile crane operator other than a boom truck operator, January 1, 2011 for a tower crane operator in the construction industry, and January 1, 2012 for a boom truck operator where the rated capacity is above 10 tonnes.

Job Bank words it differently. Its requirements page for crane operators in Newfoundland and Labrador lists where certification of mobile crane operators on specified types of cranes is compulsory: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia. It calls the certification available but voluntary in the other provinces. The same page says tower crane operator certification is compulsory in Newfoundland and Labrador. It names the Apprenticeship and Trades Certification Division of the provincial Department of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour as the regulatory body.

Work platforms hung from cranes

The regulations have a run of sections on platforms for people. They sit in Part XI, headed Scaffolds, Stages and Work Platforms, ahead of Part XIV.

Section 191. A platform for people that hangs from a crane or hoist, or is fixed to a crane boom, is to be approved and certified by a professional engineer.
Section 192. The weight of the platform and its rigging, plus the rated capacity, shall not exceed 25 percent of the crane's rated capacity at the working radius.
Section 194. Rigging that suspends a platform has a safety factor of at least 10 and is used only for suspending the platform.
Sections 195 and 196. A load line used to hoist personnel has a device to prevent two-blocking. A crane suspending a platform has a powered boom or a fixed boom, and a free running boom or winch controlled only by brakes is not used.
Section 197. An occupant of a suspended platform uses a personal fall arrest system secured to a designated anchorage on the platform or above the load hook.
Section 198. Headed "Articulating booms prohibited". A work platform shall not be suspended from an articulating boom crane, or attached to one unless the crane manufacturer approves the installation.

The regulations define an arborist as a worker who is trained for, and employed at least partly in, climbing trees for economic or scientific reasons. Neither the crane sections nor the platform sections use that word, and the regulations have no section on hoisting a climber by crane.

Equipment, inspection and records

Section 288 says a crane, derrick or hoist is designed, constructed, maintained, operated, inspected and modified as the manufacturer specifies to meet the applicable CSA standard, a professional engineer, or another standard acceptable to the minister. Part XIV also says:

The rated capacity shall not be exceeded (section 290), and a legible load chart is posted on the equipment or issued to the operator (section 291).
A boom angle indicator and a boom extension or load radius indicator are fitted where the rated capacity depends on them (sections 292 and 293).
An anti-two-block device is provided on a telescopic or conventional boom crane (section 301).
A log book records maintenance history, modifications and inspections (section 297).
Before a crane enters service, a professional engineer inspects, proof tests and certifies its rated capacity in six cases, including new equipment and repairs to load carrying components (section 298).
The operator inspects the crane at the start of each shift, records any defect in the log and reports it to the supervisor (section 310).

Loads, signals and lifts with several cranes

Section 311 says the operator determines the weight of the load and tells the workers involved. Section 313 bars an operator from trying to move a load that the operator has reason to doubt can be handled safely. Section 321 says the operator acts only on the directions of a designated and competent signaller where the load hook and load are not in clear view throughout the lift, and section 323 requires a dedicated radio channel where a two-way radio directs the crane. Section 316 requires a written procedure when several mobile cranes lift together and the load on one crane is above 75 percent of its rated capacity or other factors make the lift complex, and when 3 or more cranes lift one load. Section 318 says a load is not passed over workers unless there is no practicable alternative and the procedure has been communicated.

Trees and power lines

Part XXVI is headed Electrical Operations. Its section 503 says that before tree pruning or felling close to energized high voltage overhead conductors, a qualified person authorized by the power system's owner inspects the worksite. Section 505 says pruning or falling within the minimum distances from such conductors is done by a qualified worker authorized by the owner of the power system. These sections do not mention cranes.

The Act behind it

The regulations say they are made under section 65 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Act itself sets employer duties in section 5, including providing and maintaining safe equipment where reasonably practicable and ensuring workers are given operating instruction in the use of protective devices and equipment.