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Florida Needs To Establish Baseline Standards For Cranes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 12, 2008

It's unfortunate that legislation establishing Florida's first tower crane regulations collapsed because of a dispute over whether counties should have the right to adopt tougher standards.

The bills by state Sen. Don Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach and Rep. Greg Evers of Baker addressed a real need in Florida - to better protect the public and property from the type of crane accidents that have killed nine people in New York City this year. It's stunning that such a high-growth state as Florida has no laws regulating these towering machines or their operators.

Gaetz and Evers proposed a logical first. They wanted to empower the state's Construction Industry Licensing Board at the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to adopt regulations developed by trade and engineering associations to oversee tower crane operators and the machines.

Rules by the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators, for example, include a minimum-age requirement of 18 for drivers, a substance abuse policy, written examinations and physical requirements. These are common-sense standards that require crane operators to at least have a working knowledge of their machines and are physically able to operate them.

The bills, supported by many in the construction industry, also would have required that cranes be certified based upon industry associations' standards, another reasonable requirement that would help protect both the public and operators.

The House bill passed. But the package died when the Senate bill failed to make it out of the Committee on Community Affairs after Miami-Dade lawmakers protested an unwise provision giving the state sole regulatory authority.

Miami-Dade officials were rightly concerned the legislation would invalidate a tower crane ordinance they adopted earlier this year. (A group of contractors and crane owners say the ordinance is so tough that it could put them out of business, and a couple of weeks ago a federal judge agreed, blocking enforcement temporarily.)

The Miami-Dade ordinance was adopted in response to the deaths of three people in crane accidents over the last two years in that county. A Hialeah woman also died in one of the New York City mishaps, generating more concern.

Counties should have the right to adopt higher standards than the state's. Conditions in Florida counties can vary greatly. Local officials need the authority to enact rules that meet their community's particular needs.

Downtown Miami, for example, is home to more than $6 billion worth of ongoing commercial construction projects, including condominiums and other high-rise buildings that require big machinery. In rural counties such as Suwannee, however, there is very little major construction, and no need for local rules.

The state, to be sure, needs to adopt minimum standards that regulate these imposing machines, which can be seen looming over the skylines of Tampa and other large cities. But the right of counties to adopt tougher rules should not be taken away in the process.

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