The Fifth Annual Industry Forum on Personnel Qualifications, held Thursday, October 29, 2020 and presented by the NCCCO Foundation, was a success as judged by those who attended. In a post-event poll, fully 70% professed themselves “very satisfied” with the four-hour virtual conference which attracted record registrations of just over 300 safety professionals from 42 states, more than three times the previous record set last year.
This year’s Forum built on the success of previous similar events with sessions focused on the latest developments in regulations and best industry practices as they pertain to the qualifications of personnel working in, with, and around cranes and other types of lifting equipment. Back as keynote speaker for the second year in a row was Scott Ketcham, Director of OSHA’s Directorate of Construction, who also participated (along with other members of the OSHA Construction Directorate team), in a concluding Q&A session with the panelists.
In all, some ten (10) presentations were made by various industry experts on topics ranging from the responsibilities of site personnel to challenges posed by workforce development, and addressing such issues as why rigger and signalperson certification is so important, how testing accommodations could actually disadvantage candidates, and what safety professionals should expect from new or revised B30 standards in the next year or two. How the NCCCO Foundation’s online accreditation and crane type Directories can assist employers in compliance and best practices with regard to crane operator qualification requirements, as well as the criteria that distinguish certification from certificates and degrees, was also the subject of Forum sessions.
Video clips of each session presented at the Forum along with the PowerPoint slides (in pdf format) that accompanied them are available for free download from the NCCCO Foundation website here.