Regulators asked for input, and that's exactly what they got. A significant number of public responses to a proposed federal regulation on cranes and derricks, estimated at 150 so far, have convinced the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to push back the comment period, which was to expire on Dec. 8. The public now has until Jan. 22, 2009. The move is a reaction to the "significant" number of responses, many of which asked for more time to digest the lengthy rule, says the agency. A copy of the roughly 240-page proposed rule, which ran in the Oct. 9

Chinese prosecutors have arrested seven construction managers and safety supervisors over a deadly Oct. 28 cableway accident  in Chongqing. An investigation found that the accused allegedly allowed 23 workers on the bridge project to be transported in a container not rated for lifting. A cable holding the container snapped, sending 11 workers to their deaths and injuring the remaining 12. Investigators say workers complained three days earlier about the rigging, and local officials had ordered supervisors to stop using the container for hoisting.

Crane accidents this year have caught the attention of construction executives, leading them to tighten up their internal hoisting policies. Key strat�egies include mandatory, independent inspections, worker certification and new communication technology. Private contractors are phasing in new certification requirements for operators as well as workers on the ground. Starting in January 2009, New York City-based Turner Construction Co. plans to require all tower-crane operators on its projects to hold a nationally accredited certification. �We felt that as far as tower cranes go, we had a lot more work to do out there,� says Cindy DePrater, the company�s Dallas-based corporate

Chinese officials have halted construction on the $5.1-billion, 43-mile-long No. 1 subway line under construction in Hangzhou until investigations are completed on what caused a major collapse on Nov. 15. Photo: AP/Wideworld The collapse created a 246-ft-long, 50-ft-deep crater that sucked in a 250-ft section of roadway above the construction site. At least five fatalities have been reported.

A much-anticipated revision to the decades-old federal regulations on cranes and derricks is getting closer to firming up, but now one public-safety official in New York City is questioning the usefulness of the proposed standard. The city’s buildings commissioner, Robert LiMandri, says he is worried that New York’s own crane rules, imposed after what he calls an “abysmal” year of industry safety lapses, would be wiped out once the less stringent, national standards are put in place. The city has spent $4 million studying crane safety and is in the process of enacting more rules based on the report’s 41