Travelers Educates Its Construction Customers on OSHA’s Revised Cranes and Derricks Standard

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published a new standard regarding the use of cranes and derricks in construction. Recognizing that more than 250,000 construction, contracting and equipment rental companies, employing almost five million workers, will be affected by the new rules*, Travelers (NYSE: TRV) has updated its complimentary training courses and is well positioned to help its customers gain certification with the new standard. Travelers was the first insurance company, more than 10 years ago, to develop a training course to assist its policyholders with passing nationally accredited exams for crane operators.

“With 16 trained instructors located across the country, we are well positioned to immediately begin helping our customers meet the new standard that requires all operators of construction cranes and derricks to be certified.”

“Crane use is an integral component of the construction process and without cranes many essential construction activities would not be possible,” said Bill Teed, President, Travelers Construction. “Because statistics indicate that cranes top the list of equipment involved in accidents resulting in significant property damage and injuries, Travelers is committed to helping its customers get the safety training that they need to operate cranes and derricks safely and in compliance with the new standard from OSHA.”

While other comparable test preparation courses can cost from $2,000 to $5,000, Travelers provides crane safety training and test preparation programs to its customers at no cost, including the following classroom and computer-based courses:

Professional Crane Operations – Mobile Cranes & Tower Cranes
Mobile Crane Management
Crane Signals
Rigging Operations

“Over the last 10 years, Travelers has trained more than 4,000 crane operators and management personnel across the country through our crane and rigging programs. Participants in our courses report a 90 percent pass rate for the national certification examinations,” said John Komidar, Vice President, Travelers Construction Risk Control. “With 16 trained instructors located across the country, we are well positioned to immediately begin helping our customers meet the new standard that requires all operators of construction cranes and derricks to be certified.”

Designed to comprehensively address key hazards related to cranes and derricks on construction work sites, including the four main causes of worker death and injury (electrocutions, crushing by parts of the equipment, striking by the equipment/load and falling), the new standard incorporates a number of significant requirements. The new rules include a pre-erection inspection of tower crane parts, use of synthetic slings in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions during assembly and disassembly of work, assessment of ground conditions, qualification or certification of crane operators and procedures for working in the vicinity of power lines.

Current Travelers policyholders will have the opportunity to learn more about the new OSHA requirements for the use of cranes and derricks in construction on Monday, Sept. 27, 2010, when Travelers Risk Control presents its customer webinar, 'An Overview of OSHA’s New Construction Standard for Cranes and Derricks.' Travelers customers can register for this webinar and access training bulletins on crane and derrick safety by visiting Travelers Risk Control and logging into the Risk Control Customer Portal. With exclusive access to more than 1,500 tools and resources that can be quickly sorted by category, topic, product type, language or any customized combination, Travelers Risk Control has one of the most comprehensive libraries of safety and training information in the industry.

About Travelers
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading property casualty insurer selling primarily through independent agents and brokers. The company’s diverse business lines offer its global customers a wide range of coverage in the auto, home and business settings. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has more than 30,000 employees and generated revenues of approximately $25 billion in 2009. For more information, visit www.travelers.com.

*U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, US Department of Labor's OSHA publishes final rule on cranes and derricks in construction, on the Internet at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=18048.