March 2015—Candidates are signing up in record numbers to take their CCO recertification examinations, the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) reports. “2014 was an exceptionally active year for recertification,” said NCCCO CEO Graham Brent. “We recorded our highest volume of recertificants since the recertification program was introduced in 2001, surpassing the previous record set in 2012 by over 13 percent.”
The mobile crane operator program was particularly active, Brent said, with more than 6,500 recertification candidates signing up during the course of the year. “The pace was set at the beginning of the year with a record January, and never once faltered,” he added.
Regulatory delays did not appear to have had a restraining effect. “It’s particularly gratifying that certified operators are seeing the value in retaining their credential even in light of OSHA’s decision to further extend the compliance date for certification,” Brent said referring to last year’s decision by the Agency to postpone the original November 2014 effective date. “The safety and productivity benefits are now so clearly documented, and the adoption of nationally accredited certification so well established, that whether or not we have a federal requirement is almost a moot issue.”
Recertification was also strong in other certification programs such as tower and overhead crane operator, and articulating crane, as well as the crane-related certifications such as signalperson and rigger. “Certification is quite rightly viewed as a hard-won credential, and it makes perfect sense that anyone who has achieved that would want to preserve and protect it for another five-year period, and beyond,” Brent added.