March 2010 – The first class of Practical Examiners for the newest CCO-certification program graduated recently, one of the final steps before NCCCO formally launches the Articulating Crane Operator certification program in March. This first-ever workshop for prospective Practical Examiners was held on January 12–13 at Trench Plate Rental Co. in Sacramento, CA.
Involving two days of classroom and hands-on training, and concluding with the participants taking and scoring actual practical exams, the workshop covered setting up the Test Sites and everything else involved with running candidates through the new Practical Exams. Test Sites were set up for both an articulating boom crane (also known as a “knuckleboom”) and an articulating boom loader (commonly referred to as a “drywall crane”), and participants had their choice to be accredited to give either or both tests. In any case, each participant had to be able to pass the appropriate Practical Exam to become accredited by NCCCO to administer the new exams.
Prospective NCCCO practical examiners observe a demonstration of an articulating crane practical exam task.
Certified crane operators from California, Washington, and Oregon made up the 11 prospective Practical Examiners who attended this first open training session. Additionally, Mike Manieri, Principal Safety Engineer at Cal/OSHA, observed the training and the live tests. He noted, “I’m confident that these practical tests are a fair evaluation of an operator’s ability to perform in the real world, and I’m excited to see a solution that directly addresses the needs of the articulating boom crane industry.”
Articulating Crane Task Force member Tom Lyon hosted the event, remarking, “It’s great to see this new program coming to life, and I’m looking forward to reaping the promised benefits, including a safer environment for everyone who works with these increasingly common—yet potentially dangerous—machines.” The industry task force developed the new program over the course of about a year, including producing a reference manual that brings together information from a variety of sources to help candidates prepare for the written portion of the certification exam.
To enable rapid expansion of the new program, additional workshops will be held throughout the coming year; check www.nccco.org for dates and locations.