Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1994

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Education

Major Professor

Robert H. Kirk

Committee Members

Jack Ellison, James Blackmon

Abstract

This study was undertaken for the purpose of determining the basic criteria needed for crane inspections. The motivation for this study was Main Causes for Crane Accidents A Report on Craning in the United States. The report published by The Crane Institute of America outlining an industry problem, alleged that members of the crane industry operating as crane inspectors did not meet the basic criteria needed to inspect cranes, and that government regulations as written, did not spell out the basic criteria that must be met to be a crane inspector.

This study began with the assumption that if the charges were true, most members of the crane industry wanted to find ways to rectify this situation and with a further assumption that the industry needed to register the opinions of experts involved in the day to day operations and inspections in the crane industry. It was believed that the industry needed to know who should know what, which codes should govern, and how the respondents perceived what was the most important concern in the crane industry.

These questions were addressed by submitting statements concerning crane inspections and crane operator requirements to groups of experts - a group of crane owners, a group of OSHA instructors, a group of state crane inspectors, and a group of industrial trade instructors and a group from a local operating union. These experts rendered opinions regarding: (1) the relevancy of each statement to crane inspection, (2) an opinion concerning who in the industry should know the information contained in each statement, and (3) how codes requirements should be developed to control the training program.

The resulting opinions resulted in a documented compilation of statements concerning cranes and crane inspections. It should be noted that the information contained in each statement was not tested to determine whether the statement was fact, opinion, theory, or fiction. The study further found that the crane industry as a whole was communicating well internally, even though federal agencies such as OSHA were not communicating well with them. There were a number of individuals within the crane industry willing to spend several hours to render opinions and to make comments concerning this study.

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