As you might imagine, being able to lift, suspend and move heavy loads with precision is required by most construction projects and worksites. Whether you need to move materials to their proper places or you need to place objects accordingly, a qualified and skilled crane operator can not only make sure that the project goes efficiently and quickly, but also that there are no damages or mistakes that can result in safety concerns.

That being said, what qualifications should a crane operator have, and in what circumstances do they need certifications?

Crane Operator Qualifications

In November 10, 2018, crane operator qualifications were required by OSHA to be certified by an accredited certifying body. Testing is completed not just on written and practical testing, but by equipment capacity and type of equipment used. It is no longer sufficient by modern safety standards to have general certifications for crane operations. There are conditions and stipulations for crane operations that were long overdue.

A good analogy is like getting a driver’s license, you are certified to drive on the road under general conditions but your license doesn’t truly specify what your skillset is. Not all drivers are created equal, not everyone can drive as well on the highway as they can locally—and vice versa.

Operating a crane is a similar ordeal, just because an operator has experience with tower cranes does not speak to his or her skills with operating a mobile crane or a boom truck which all require different skill sets.

Consider all of the things a good crane operator needs to possess:

Proper knowledge of load-bearing and physics regarding suspended objects
Satisfactory depth perception
Ability to work in high places
Clear communication skills

Can A Crane Be Operated Without Certifications?

A crane can in fact be operated without certifications, but there are certain conditions that must be met. OSHA has a rule by which any operator who is not certified can operate a crane if they can be classified as an operator in training. Additionally, the operator in training must be supervised by an operator’s trainer. This is under the assumption that the operator has been sufficiently trained to do the task despite lacking certifications. There are also limitations on what types of lifts the unlicensed operator can perform.

However, it is assumed that these protocols are there to allow for some on the job training or for emergencies where a crane must be operated for basic purposes.

San Francisco Bay Area Crane Rental Company

The point of this all is to say, why take a chance? Hire an experienced crane operator to do your work. All of our crane rentals at Sheedy Crane come with an NCCO certified operator to operate the crane to fulfill any and all needs you may have.

We have helped a variety of industries with their load transferring needs such as electrical equipment, disaster, and emergency support, power plants, trees and landscaping, and many more. All-terrain cranes, lattice boom cranes, hydraulic truck cranes, rough terrain cranes, roof-mounted cranes, we provide the equipment necessary for any job.

Contact Sheedy Crane today for any upcoming projects you have which require the use of a crane, heavy hauling and rigging.

Hiring a contractor is both a sigh of relief and a need that can be difficult to address amid budget concerns. In a way every budget is tight, most companies operate on very tight margins and are wary about any additional expenditures. When it comes to hiring a crane rental company, there are 3 questions you want to ask yourself about the rental.

Does the Crane Rental Meet the Budget Requirements?

It goes without saying that before you can start browsing for services, you’ll need to know how much you’re looking to spend. Some rental services can be exceedingly expensive by virtue of the fact that they are booked up or that they lend specialty machinery that warrants additional costs.

A good crane rental company will work within your budget and give you reasonable estimates on jobs. Sometimes companies with brand new equipment will ask for more money to recoup some of those costs, but consider also that sometimes new equipment lends greater efficiency to operators. Jobs may take less time and thus less labor hours billed. These are things you should be on the lookout for when renting a crane from a company.

Is the Crane Rental Company Experienced?

You would think that all crane rental companies met a certain level of expertise, but as with all industries there are the best of the best and those who barely get the job done. Seek out a crane company that has had ample experience to fine tune their methods and deliver the best results.

Sheedy Crane has been operating in the Bay Area for more than 95 years! We have overseen much of the construction and economic growth of the Bay Area through our operations and jobs we’ve been assigned. All of our crane operators are NCCO certified so you will always have a qualified operator when renting through us.

What is their Safety Track Record?

Unfortunately, mistakes happen—but you don’t want them to happen when using a crane. This can be prevented by not only hiring an experienced crane rental company that has certified operators but it helps when the company you’re hiring is providing those operators.

Not all crane rental companies provide their own operators as part of the package so this is an important factor. The benefit of working with a crane rental company that supplies the operator is that they are going to be familiar with their roster of operators and understand what kind of work they are good at. Proper skill allocation is paramount to bolstering safety records.

For example, if you hire Sheedy Crane for a job, we’ll be more than happy to send a surveyor out to the site to acquire estimates. This will also be a great way to obtain information about the site to our operators so we can get a read on the job site to anticipate any possible obstacles.