Rigger Training

 

OSHA’s subpart CC, Cranes and Derricks in Construction, requires riggers to be qualified to perform their job.

Qualified rigger required

Employers must use qualified riggers during hoisting activities for assembly and disassembly work. Additionally, qualified riggers are required whenever workers are within the fall zone and hooking, unhooking, or guiding a load, or doing the initial connection of a load to a component or structure.

Qualified rigger criteria

A qualified rigger is a rigger who meets the criteria for a qualified person. Employers must determine whether a person is qualified to perform specific rigging tasks. Each qualified rigger may have different credentials or experience. A qualified rigger is a person that:

·               Possesses a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing; or

·               Has extensive knowledge, training, and experience; and

·               Can successfully demonstrate the ability to solve problems related to rigging loads.

The person designated as the qualified rigger must have the ability to properly rig the load for a particular job. It does not mean that a rigger must be qualified to do every type of rigging job.

Each load that requires rigging has unique properties that can range from the simple to the complex. For example, a rigger may have extensive experience in rigging structural components and other equipment to support specific construction activities. Such experience may have been gained over many years.

However, this experience does not automatically qualify the rigger to rig unstable, unusually heavy, or eccentric loads that may require a tandem lift, multiple-lifts, or use of custom rigging equipment. In essence, employers must make sure the person can do the rigging work needed for the exact types of loads and lifts for a particular job with the equipment and rigging that will be used for that job.

Do qualified riggers need to be trained or certified?

Riggers do need to be properly trained, but they do not have to be certified by an accredited organization or assessed by a third party. Employers may choose to use a third party entity to assess the qualifications of the rigger candidate, but they are not required to do so.

Is a certified crane operator a qualified rigger?

A certified crane operator does not necessarily meet the requirements of a qualified rigger. Determining whether a person is a qualified rigger is based on the nature of the load, lift, and equipment used to hoist that load plus that person’s knowledge and experience. A certified/qualified crane operator may meet the requirements of a qualified rigger, depending on the operator’s knowledge and experience with rigging.