OSHA has released a new enforcement policy excluding monorail hoists under its Subpart CC - Cranes and Derricks in Construction rule.
Under the policy, employers will meet the requirement if they are in compliance with OSHA's rules for overhead hoists and general training standards.
“This enforcement policy is a commonsense approach to addressing industry concerns while also ensuring workers are protected,” said Dean McKenzie, director of OSHA’s directorate of construction in a statement.
Stakeholders voiced their opinions to the agency to initiate the policy change, noting the differences between a monorail hoist – which is attached to a fixed monorail mounted on equipment such as trucks, trailers or scaffolding systems – and other cranes and derricks in construction.
While some monorail hoists can be extended and contracted in only a fixed horizontal direction, they do not rotate, swing on a hinge, or boom out much farther than the equipment on which they are mounted, according to OSHA.
The general industry requirements for monorail hoists remain intact.