CSA Group and WorkSafeBC, the workplace safety authority of British Columbia, Canada, have signed an agreement to develop a national Canadian standard for competencies in rigging and lifting work. The standard is meant to give training providers, employers, supervisors and workers in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, transportation, energy and maritime operations a common reference point for the knowledge and skills needed to safely perform rigging and lifting tasks. WorkSafeBC is providing financial support to speed up its development.
What will the standard cover?
The standard is meant to set out competency requirements for rigging and lifting work, matched to the complexity of the task. It should support certification programs with assessments that are valid, reliable and practical, and clarify employers’ responsibility to assess their staff’s competence and keep it current for the specific work environment. A national CSA Group committee will then keep the standard up to date through periodic reviews. Kay Penn, Director of Health and Safety Standards at CSA Group, says national standards create a shared understanding of safe work. Angelique Prince, Director of Prevention Programs and Services at WorkSafeBC, notes that rigging and lifting work happen daily across many sectors and demand considerable knowledge and judgment.
Why is the standard coming now?
Across Canada, legal requirements for rigging exist, but expectations around competence vary. As a result, how workers are trained, assessed and checked also differs. According to WorkSafeBC, serious incidents involving rigging and lifting work continue to occur. The initiative is part of a broader package of measures through which WorkSafeBC aims to strengthen crane and rigging safety in British Columbia, including a comprehensive review of Part 15 (Rigging) of the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, with expected changes to the requirements for training, assessment and qualification of riggers.
What is the timeline?
Work on the standard begins in the fall of 2026. Consultations are planned for spring 2027, with implementation targeted for late 2027. According to the press release, CSA Group has been developing workplace health and safety standards for more than 75 years; WorkSafeBC provides no-fault insurance to 2.7 million workers and 286,000 employers in British Columbia, Canada.
Context
Crane safety has been on the agenda in British Columbia for some time. According to CBC News, WorkSafeBC presented a risk-reduction strategy in 2024, following a series of fatal accidents, based on consultation with 130 stakeholders from the crane industry, including recommendations to improve rigger training and review the rules for cranes and lifting work. One of those accidents was the collapse of a tower crane in Kelowna, Canada, on July 12, 2021, which killed five people. Competency requirements for riggers also already exist internationally: in the United States, the occupational safety regulator OSHA has required the use of a so-called ‘qualified rigger’ for the assembly and disassembly of cranes since 2010, although a formal, independent certification is not legally required there.
Source: CSA Group, with support from WorkSafeBC, develops national standard for rigging and lifting competencies, October 28, 2026
Additionally researched: CBC News on recommended crane safety measures in British Columbia after fatal accidents, OSHA Fact Sheet on the ‘qualified rigger’ requirement
