Third five-year review is testimony to CCO certification integrity
May 2018—After a top-to-bottom review of National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators’ (NCCCO) certification programs and internal procedures, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has reaffirmed the accreditation of all 11 CCO certification programs that NCCCO has submitted to ANSI for review. The decision of ANSI’s Professional Certification Accreditation Committee (PCAC) to award accreditation for a further five years to 2022 came after rigorous onsite and field audits by ANSI assessors of NCCCO’s management systems and psychometric procedures.
“ANSI commends NCCCO for successfully completing the reaccreditation process and demonstrating compliance to the ISO 17024 standard,” said Dr. Vijay Krishna, ANSI’s Senior Director of Credentialing Accreditation Programs. “The witnessing of NCCCO’s practical examination also provided the evaluation team and observers from the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) from India a great opportunity to learn about the administration of practical examinations per a standardized protocol.”
NCCCO earned its initial ANSI accreditation in 2007 for the CCO Mobile, Tower, and Overhead Crane Operator certification programs. To maintain its accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17024 International Standard for organizations that certify personnel, however, NCCCO has been required to submit, annually, a comprehensive report documenting program performance and internal procedures to ANSI. Every second year an on-site audit is required.
In the years since the first accreditation was awarded, the CCO Signalperson (2010), Rigger Level I (2010), Rigger Level II (2011), Articulating Crane Operator (2011), Crane Inspector (2012), Digger Derrick Operator (2013), Service Truck Crane Operator (2015), and the Lift Director (2015) programs have been progressively added to NCCCO’s range of personnel certification programs and each has been successfully accredited.
“Re-accreditation by ANSI of the CCO certification programs is a remarkable validation of the vision, determination, and dedication of the hundreds of volunteers from across the country who worked tirelessly to establish this national program of crane operator proficiency and who, over the last 23 years, have striven to maintain it,” said NCCCO President Kerry Hulse.
“Candidates and employers alike can continue to be assured that, with ANSI’s independent verification of NCCCO’s policies and procedures, CCO certification meets the highest professional standards of examination development and administration,” Hulse added. “Each CCO certification card is backed by the ANSI guarantee of program excellence unequaled in this industry,” he continued.
This was the third time that NCCCO and its programs had been required to be reaccredited as a whole, which required ANSI’s assessors to spend not only two days reviewing documentation and observing CCO practical exams in the field, but also several days of document review and onsite inspection of NCCCO’s offices. “Fulfilling all of ANSI’s requirements involved hundreds of manhours among all NCCCO staff over more than three months,” said Denny Smith, Ph.D., NCCCO Director of Certification Programs.
In accordance with its operating procedures, ANSI had mobilized a new team of assessors for this comprehensive audit. The assessors were notably impressed with the quality of the application they received from NCCCO, and highly complimentary of all the staff they had the opportunity to meet in person.
“While NCCCO has received numerous industry accolades as well as recognition by state and federal agencies in its 23-year history, reaccreditation of CCO certification programs by ANSI is clearly a major milestone in the history of this organization,” said NCCCO CEO, Graham Brent. “This kind of third-party recognition of all our individual and collective efforts can make us proud to be a part of a program that is truly fulfilling its mission of improving safety on construction sites nationwide, and thereby protecting the construction workforce and the general public from the risk of accidents that might lead to death or serious injury.”
During the NCCCO audit, ANSI was itself evaluated by representatives of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) organization who observed ANSI assessors conducting the reaccreditation assessment for NCCCO. ANSI became the first signatory body to the PAC Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) for personnel certification in 2016. The PAC peer evaluation team observed both the onsite evaluation as well as NCCCO’s administration of the practical examination.
CCO certification programs accredited by ANSI through September 2022 include:
- Mobile Crane Operator
- Tower Crane Operator
- Overhead Crane Operator
- Articulating Crane Operator
- Service Truck Crane Operator
- Digger Derrick Operator
- Signalperson
- Rigger Level I
- Rigger Level II
- Crane Inspector
- Lift Director
In addition, NCCCO is currently gathering test data and preparing materials to submit to ANSI for a scope expansion to include the CCO Dedicated Pile Driver Operator certification program.