9 Investigates

9 Investigates construction crane industry, self-regulation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — They are the behemoth arms of progress in uptown Charlotte, often dangling tons of material hundreds of feet in the air.

Cranes require an enormous amount of skill from the crews that operate them. They are giants of construction, but also a giant responsibility. If misused, they're potentially deadly.

November will mark 10 years since Kathy Gaberson lost her son, Matthew. She said he was known for being cautious and for taking the safe route.

But that did little to help him one night in 2006 as the 33-year-old patent attorney sat in his apartment just outside Seattle.

"He had just finished his dinner and the 200-foot tall tower crane at a construction site across the street collapsed and fell on his fourth-floor apartment, killing him," Gaberson said.

A state investigation determined that an engineering company made a mistake in how it built the base of the crane. After the collapse, legislation was developed that required Washington state regulators to inspect and certify cranes each year.

In North Carolina, companies can hire an inspector or let one of their "qualified" employees do inspections.

North Carolina officials inspect cranes during random checks of construction sites. We checked OSHA records and found 17 violations against Charlotte area crane companies between 2012 and 2015.

"When you rig 500 tons, you better know what you're doing," said Steve Reynolds, who runs a company that trains crane operators.

Reynolds said crane operators must be "qualified," meaning that a company can determine that its own employee is "qualified" to operate a machine.

However, a new federal rule would require operators to be "certified." That's more in-depth and involves course work and written tests. Operators would still have to be "qualified."

Certification was supposed to be a requirement starting in 2014. However, OSHA delayed it until 2017.

Not all cities and states rely on the federal rules. Cities like Chicago and New York City have instituted their own rules and licensing requirements.

Reynolds said he's seen many companies go above and beyond and send operators to get certified before it's required. He challenges the idea that more outside regulation is always a good thing.

"To make regulations concerning crane operations, you can try and make them work, but you need to let the professionals that operate the cranes and supervise that work help be a part of those calls right there," Reynolds said.

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