Dive summary:

Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules that are set to take effect by November 2014, if not earlier, say that crane operators must have received certification in their trade, but some experts in the field object to an implication that certification means an operator is qualified to operate any specific piece of equipment.

Several parties at an OSHA meeting for the industry objected to that interpretation, saying operators should be qualified on specific cranes or derricks before operating them.

An example cited by one of the industry members of the committee that drafted language for OSHA was the apparent implication that if an operator was certified at a certain tonnage, that meant qualification on any crane with a lower tonnage whether the operator had been on it or not.

From the article:

... Jim Maddux, the head of OSHA’s Construction Directorate and the meeting's chairman, was circumspect about OSHA’s intentions to change the rules. “We’re looking at all possibilities, which range from doing nothing to rule-making to a directive,” he said.