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Crane-suspended working platforms

Summary A crane company asked about hoisting workers on crane-suspended platforms. OSHA said a program directive and a variance allowed such platforms under controlled conditions because some alternative methods could pose greater hazards. OSHA archives the letter.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1978-12-13-0
Date issued
December 13, 1978
Status
Archived by the agency
OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy.
Status last verified October 10, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1926 Cranes Personnel Platforms
Source
View the official document

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OSHA labels this an archive document and warns that it may no longer represent OSHA policy. It may no longer reflect the agency's current position. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance, and verify current law before relying on anything here.
About this page: The full text below is the official document from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

December 13, 1978

Mr. Charles H. Butcher, Jr.
Manager, Product Safety
Koehring Company
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Butcher:

This is in response to your recent letter addressed to Assistant Secretary Eula Bingham concerning the hoisting of workman by load lines of cranes. Your letter was forwarded to this office for response.

The Office of Compliance programming has issued a Program Directive to permit the use of crane suspended working platforms; the Office of Variance Determination has granted a similar variance. In our judgment, the use of a crane suspended working platform under controlled conditions offers the safest means of completing difficult work assignments in certain cases. We feel that in some cases, alternative construction methods are comparatively more hazardous to employees than a working platform suspended by a crane. Therefore, we recognize a crane suspended working platform as indicated in OSHA Program Directive #100-48.

Although general information on injuries was forwarded to us subsequent to the May 2, 1978, meeting, it is our understanding more definitive date was to be supplied. Therefore, any additional explicit accident/injury statistics within your industry on this subject would be appreciated.

Thank you for your continuing interest in safety and health.

Sincerely,

Irving Weisblatt, Acting Director, Federal Compliance and State Programs

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