820 Cranes and Derricks Safety I

Responsibilities of the Controlling Entity

A contractor operating a crane on a construction site may not have the ability or authority to provide for adequate ground conditions at the site. The standard, therefore, places the responsibility for ensuring that the ground conditions are adequate on the "controlling entity" at the site. The "controlling entity" is the prime contractor, general contractor, construction manager, or other legal entity with overall responsibility for the project's planning, quality, and completion.

The controlling entity must also inform the user and operator of the equipment:

• of hazards beneath the equipment set-up area (voids, tanks, utilities),
• if those hazards are identified in documents (site drawings, as-built drawings, and soil analyses),
• if the documents are in the possession of the controlling entity (whether at the site or off-site), and
• of any other hazards known to the controlling entity.

If there is no controlling entity for the project, the responsibility for providing adequate ground conditions rests on the employer that has authority at the site to make or arrange for ground preparations.

Responsibility of the Company Operating the Crane

Although the controlling entity is responsible for providing adequate ground conditions, the company operating the crane will often be better able than the controlling entity to determine whether those conditions are adequate. If you are operating a crane and decide that ground conditions are inadequate, you must discuss the problem with the controlling entity and see that the problem is corrected before beginning or continuing operations.

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