158 Crane Safety: Basic

Controlling Employers

The employer that is a prime contractor, general contractor, construction manager, or any other legal entity with overall responsibility for the construction of the project (its planning, quality, and completion) is considered the controlling employer, sometimes called the controlling entity.

• The controlling entity is responsible for seeing that the ground conditions are adequate to support the equipment.
• The controlling entity must also inform the user and the operator of the equipment about the location of hazards beneath the equipment setup area (such as voids, tanks, utilities) if those hazards are identified in documents (such as site drawings, as-built drawings, and soil analyses) in the possession of the controlling entity (whether at the site or off-site) or any other hazards known to the controlling entity.
• The controlling entity must also establish a system to coordinate the operations of two cranes that operate within each other's working radius.

The A/D Director

All assembly/disassembly operations must be directed by an individual who meets the criteria for both a competent person and a qualified person or by a competent person assisted by one or more qualified persons. The A/D director must understand the applicable assembly/disassembly procedures. The A/D director must take the following precautions to protect against potential hazards associated with the operation.

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