SC&RA Member Tyler Elliff, Advocates for Crane Construction Standards in Tree Care
A recent press release from Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) highlighted the ongoing work of SC&RA member Tyler Elliff of Precision Crane Service, Windsor, Calif., regarding crane use in tree care.
Because risks faced by crane operators in construction or tree care are similar, Elliff recommends that tree care standards for cranes should adopt language from Subpart CC in the Crane and Derricks Construction Standard. Specifically, he has requested that roles, responsibilities, communication and qualification standards be the same, whether a crane is used in construction or tree care work.
Elliff submitted a letter to Robert Burt, chair of the OSHA Small Business Advocacy Review Panel outlining current standards and regulations issues and opportunities. In his letter, Elliff focused on several areas where existing crane standards in construction should replace or be incorporated into the tree care standard.
In a recent conversation with Elliff regarding crane use in tree care operations, he noted, “Even when everything is planned correctly and your climber is experienced, once the piece is cut, there are many dynamic variables (see the below video) which need to be accounted for.”
How Elliff and the Precision Crane Service team do this is noted via his officially submitted comments:
“As a matter of practice, our company will traditionally bring in a crane large enough that only requires 50% of the crane’s rated capacity to perform the tree work in question. This is because tree weight is not always accurate and choosing a crane that meets the “exact calculated tree weight” could lead to a possible overload situation should the tree’s weight be much greater than originally calculated. By utilizing this practice, our company has never overturned a crane during tree operations,” stated Tyler Elliff, Precision Crane Service.
As Elliff seeks to bridge the gap in industry education related to communication, rigging, and site supervisor roles, DICA is equally committed to providing education, information, and solutions for foundational support under operating equipment. DICA’s lines of outrigger pads, crane pads, cribbing, and now sling protection are specifically engineered and designed to reduce risk and increase safety.
(May 6, 2020) SC&RA member Tyler Elliff, vice president of Precision Crane Service, Windsor, Calif., recently participated as a Small Entity Representative (SER) during the Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) Panel examining OSHA’s possible Tree Care Operations standard.
Elliff represented the crane industry during a call with other SERs to discuss all aspects of the possible standard and officially submitted comments on behalf of SC&RA. As part of his comments, Elliff maintains that cranes be included in any tree care operations standard but should use existing language such as what is in Subpart CC: Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard. Several sections within Subpart CC, could easily be transferred to the proposed new standard.
Consideration should also be given to including current language from existing industry consensus standards to any new standard under consideration. This allows crane operators to freely move between industries without the problem of conflicting standard language.
Click here to read the full text of Eliff’s officially submitted comments.