Crane operator rules in Oregon

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The sources are Oregon OSHA's Division 3 Subdivision CC, Cranes and Derricks in Construction (Administrative Order 3-2021), Oregon OSHA's summary of comments and decisions for Administrative Order 1-2019, and Oregon OSHA's Division 3 rules page. The national picture is on the parent page, cranes in tree work.

At a glance

Item	What the sources say
Rule	Oregon Administrative Rules chapter 437, Division 3, Subdivision CC, which adopts 29 CFR 1926.1400 to 1926.1442
Operator rule	1926.1427: trained, certified or licensed, and evaluated before operating
Oregon operator rule 437-003-0081	Repealed by Administrative Order 1-2019, adopted May 9, 2019
Enforcement of the adopted rule	Delayed until January 1, 2020
Tree work	Scope exclusion 1926.1400(c)(13): "Tree trimming and tree removal work"

What Oregon adopted

Oregon OSHA's summary of Administrative Order 1-2019 says Oregon had adopted its own crane operator certification rules during the years federal OSHA spent on rulemaking, meant to be more stringent than the federal rules of the time, and that the last of them dated from April 2002. Because a state plan must be at least as effective as federal rules, Oregon OSHA judged that once the federal rule with its nationally accredited certification requirement was final, its own rule, OAR 437-003-0081, was no longer more effective. It saw no feasible change that would be more effective, and it said stakeholder groups were silent on changing the federal text. It adopted the federal rules as written and repealed 437-003-0081 and its appendices. The order was adopted and took effect on May 9, 2019. Until January 1, 2020, Oregon OSHA said it would cite violations only where they would also have breached the old rule.

The summary also records that Oregon OSHA turned down requests from water utility employers and others for an industry-specific training rule, saying a state plan cannot grant industry exemptions that would make its rules less effective than federal ones.

The operator rule in Subdivision CC

The Subdivision CC booklet, Administrative Order 3-2021, carries 1926.1427. Paragraph (a) says the employer must make sure each operator is trained, certified or licensed, and evaluated before operating covered equipment. An employee not yet certified and evaluated may only operate as an operator-in-training under supervision. Operators of derricks, sideboom cranes and equipment with a maximum manufacturer-rated hoisting capacity of 2,000 pounds or less are not required to meet the paragraph, as the rule words it.

Paragraph (c) sets the licence and certification routes. A state or local government licence counts where its programme tests knowledge and skills in written and practical tests, a government authority has found those requirements met, and the licence lasts no longer than five years. Otherwise the operator is certified by an accredited crane operator testing organization under paragraph (d) or through an audited employer programme under paragraph (e). Paragraph (c)(3) says the employer provides the certification or licence at no cost to employees. Oregon OSHA's 2019 summary describes four routes: military qualification, a local government licence valid only within that body's jurisdiction and employer, certification from a nationally accredited testing organization valid for five years and portable between employers, and an audited employer programme valid for five years only with that employer.

Oregon's own fall protection rule

Subdivision CC includes one Oregon-written crane fall protection rule, 437-003-1423, which applies where employees are assembling, disassembling or otherwise working on a crane surface with an unprotected side or edge more than 10 feet above a lower level. The booklet notes that 1926.1423(d), (e), (f), (g)(1), (h) and (j) were not adopted and that 437-003-1423 applies in their place.

Tree work

The scope section, 1926.1400, lists what Subdivision CC does not cover. Item (13) in the Oregon booklet reads "Tree trimming and tree removal work." The federal exclusion appears word for word. The booklet does not say which Oregon rule covers cranes used in tree work.