Marshall County: Online Prep for Crane and Rigging Certification

Processing plants never really stop

Pilgrim's Pride, Wayne Farms, Tyson Foods, AlaTrade Foods, OK Foods and Farm Fresh Foods are among the poultry companies with plants in the county, and together the processors employ more than 6,600 people. Albertville was chosen after World War II as the site of north Alabama's first commercial poultry processing plant, and feed mills and hatcheries followed.

For crane crews, food plants mean rooftop refrigeration units, condensers, evaporators and conveyor lines that have to be swapped with minimal downtime, often overnight or on a weekend. Lifts over occupied buildings call for careful planning, a qualified signal person on the radio and rigging that has been inspected, not just grabbed off the truck.

Hydrants, seats and aerospace parts

Mueller moved its fire hydrant manufacturing from Chattanooga to Albertville in 1975, which earned the city its nickname. TS Tech Alabama builds automotive seating, Newman Technology makes automotive components and Progress Rail also appears on county employer lists. The county's economic development group points to aerospace and defense suppliers such as BK Aerospace and Sundown Aerospace as well.

Foundry and machining operations depend on overhead cranes, regulated under the general industry standard 1910.179, but new bays, press installs and rooftop units bring mobile cranes and construction rules onto the property.

Waterfront and lake work

Lake Guntersville is a TVA reservoir on the Tennessee River and the county's biggest recreation draw, home to Guntersville's HydroFest boat races. Marina docks, boathouses, seawalls and lakefront homes all involve lifting near or over water. Soft shoreline soils, limited setup room and wind blowing across open water make outrigger placement and load-chart reading more important than on a dry, flat lot.

What Alabama and OSHA expect

There's no state crane license in Alabama, and Guntersville and Albertville don't issue one either. The requirement that matters comes from federal OSHA's construction crane standard. Operators need accredited certification and an employer evaluation under 1926.1427; signal persons must be qualified under 1926.1428; and riggers handling assembly, disassembly or hooking duties must be qualified under 1926.1404 and 1926.1425.

Federal OSHA enforces these requirements for private employers in Alabama. City and county crews are public employees and fall outside federal OSHA coverage here, since Alabama has no approved plan for them.

• Certification period: five years
• Written exams: Online Proctored Testing, computer test centers or test events
• Practical exams: hands-on, at an accredited test site only