Dive Brief:

• Starting in 1996, a national program to train crane operators to national standards and test them for certification has now approved 100,000 people, its operator says.
• The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators cited a California government study that it said shows the training and testing has helped to reduce the incidence of fatal accidents.
• About 75,000 people now working in the industry hold more than 240,000 certifications, which are for mobile, tower or overhead cranes, signalers, riggers and crane inspectors.

Dive Insight:

Certification for mobile cranes has been the most popular program over the years, the commission said. There are about 10,000 people who hold certification as crane signal persons and about 7,000 certified to rig cranes.