Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 612
       
       
       
       By Senator Evers
       
       
       
       
       2-00586-11                                             2011612__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to regulation of hoisting equipment
    3         used in construction, demolition, or excavation work;
    4         creating s. 489.1138, F.S.; defining the terms
    5         “hoisting equipment,” “mobile crane,” and “tower
    6         crane”; requiring an applicant for a building permit
    7         to submit certain information to a local building
    8         official; requiring radio communications between
    9         certain crane operators; requiring certain
   10         preparations for a hurricane or high-wind event;
   11         requiring a preparedness plan for certain cranes;
   12         requiring that hoisting equipment be secured in a
   13         specified manner under certain circumstances;
   14         providing penalties for violation of the act by
   15         certain licensed contractors; preempting regulation of
   16         hoisting equipment and persons operating the equipment
   17         to the state; providing that the act does not apply to
   18         the regulation of elevators; providing an effective
   19         date.
   20  
   21         WHEREAS, cranes, derricks, hoists, elevators, and conveyors
   22  used in construction, demolition, or excavation work are
   23  currently regulated under federal rules adopted by the
   24  Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 29 C.F.R. parts
   25  1910 and 1926, and
   26         WHEREAS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
   27  has conducted a thorough and exhaustive review of these rules in
   28  an effort to better protect against the hazards presented by
   29  these types of hoisting equipment, and
   30         WHEREAS, the review conducted by the Occupational Safety
   31  and Health Administration was undertaken in consultation with
   32  many of the most knowledgeable engineering, construction, and
   33  safety experts in the nation and in the world, and
   34         WHEREAS, this review has culminated in the production of
   35  proposed rules setting forth comprehensive and detailed new
   36  regulations applicable to cranes, derricks, hoists, elevators,
   37  and conveyors, and to the operators of these types of hoisting
   38  equipment, as published in the Federal Register on October 9,
   39  2008, and
   40         WHEREAS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
   41  should be commended and supported in these efforts, and
   42         WHEREAS, cranes, derricks, hoists, elevators, and conveyors
   43  are routinely transported across city, county, and state lines,
   44  making uniform federal regulation of these types of hoisting
   45  equipment and their operators essential to commerce, to
   46  Florida’s economic competitiveness, and to minimizing
   47  construction costs in our state, and
   48         WHEREAS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
   49  has recently entered into a strategic alliance with the
   50  Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida, the South
   51  Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of
   52  America, the Construction Association of South Florida, and the
   53  Florida Crane Owners Council to improve crane safety, NOW,
   54  THEREFORE,
   55  
   56  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   57  
   58         Section 1. Section 489.1138, Florida Statutes, is created
   59  to read:
   60         489.1138 Regulation of hoisting equipment used in
   61  construction, demolition, or excavation work.—
   62         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   63         (a) “Hoisting equipment” means power-operated cranes,
   64  derricks, hoists, elevators, and conveyors that are used in
   65  construction, demolition, or excavation work and regulated by
   66  the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under 29
   67  C.F.R. parts 1910 and 1926.
   68         (b) “Mobile crane” means a type of hoisting equipment
   69  incorporating a cable-suspended latticed boom or hydraulic
   70  telescoping boom designed to be moved between operating
   71  locations by transport over a roadway. The term does not include
   72  a mobile crane that has a boom length of less than 25 feet or a
   73  maximum rated load capacity of less than 15,000 pounds.
   74         (c) “Tower crane” means a type of hoisting equipment using
   75  a vertical mast or tower to support a working boom in an
   76  elevated position, where the working boom can rotate to move
   77  loads laterally by rotating at the top of the mast or tower or
   78  by the rotation of the mast or tower itself, whether the mast or
   79  tower base is fixed in one location or ballasted and moveable
   80  between locations.
   81         (2) An applicant for a building permit for construction,
   82  demolition, or excavation work involving the use of a tower
   83  crane or mobile crane must submit to the local building official
   84  of the appropriate county, municipality, or other political
   85  subdivision:
   86         (a) A site plan accurately identifying the location of the
   87  crane, clearances from above-ground power lines, the location of
   88  adjacent buildings, and the structural foundation of the crane.
   89         (b) Documentation of compliance with the requirements of
   90  all governmental authorities related to operation of the crane
   91  on the work site, including compliance with the lighting
   92  requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration.
   93         (3) When two or more tower cranes or mobile cranes are
   94  operating within the same swing radius, there must be at all
   95  times a clear, independent, and operable channel of radio
   96  communications among the persons operating the cranes.
   97         (4)(a) When a tower crane or mobile crane is located on a
   98  work site, a hurricane and high-wind event preparedness plan for
   99  the crane must be available for inspection at the site.
  100         (b) In preparation for a hurricane or high-wind event,
  101  hoisting equipment must be secured in the following manner:
  102         1. All hoisting equipment must be secured in compliance
  103  with manufacturer recommendations relating to hurricane and
  104  high-wind events, including any recommendations relating to the
  105  placement, use, and removal of advertising banners and rigging.
  106         2. Tower crane turntables must be lubricated before the
  107  event.
  108         3. Fixed booms on mobile cranes must be laid down whenever
  109  feasible.
  110         4. Booms on hydraulic cranes must be retracted and stored.
  111         5. The counterweights of any hoists must be locked below
  112  the top tie-in.
  113         6. Tower cranes must be set in the weathervane position.
  114         7. All rigging must be removed from hoist blocks.
  115         8. All power at the base of tower cranes must be
  116  disconnected.
  117         (5) A person licensed under this part who intentionally
  118  violates this section is subject to discipline under ss. 455.227
  119  and 489.129.
  120         (6) This section preempts any local act, law, ordinance, or
  121  regulation, including, but not limited to, a local building code
  122  or building permit requirement, of a county, municipality, or
  123  other political subdivision which pertains to the regulation of
  124  hoisting equipment and persons operating the equipment in the
  125  state.
  126         (7) This section does not apply to the regulation of
  127  elevators under chapter 399.
  128         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.