The state needs greater control over construction sites, the state Department of Labor and Industries emphasized Monday, but crane safety primarily should remain the responsibility of construction companies.

"It's not our responsibility as a state agency; that's not our job," said Stephen Cant, who heads the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, which falls within L&I. "Our job is to ensure that employers fulfill their obligations."

But following two serious crane incidents in Bellevue last month, the construction industry wants mandatory certifications of cranes and their operators, said the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators' Danny Thiemens. He met last week with state lawmakers, labor leaders and crane company owners.

"If you can believe it, they're all on the same page for once," he said Monday.

But exactly who would be responsible for creating and enforcing such certification was in question at the industrywide crane safety meeting Monday.

Also, specific details on potential new rules -- the cost to employers, the effect on existing construction, or a timetable -- appeared to be another story for another day.

L&I managers at the meeting cited crane safety laws from New Jersey and California, which have stricter regulations than Washington. Several states require crane operator certification, and at least one state -- California -- requires a permit for the erection of each crane.

In Washington, which requires neither, crane safety usually is the operator's responsibility, while maintenance falls to the owner of the crane.

"We are not opposed as an agency to crane operator licensing or other actions that the Legislature may deem fit," Cant told a gathering of about 75 people, including representatives for the governor and legislators. "By the same token, any law we pass needs to be workable."

The public turned a wary eye to tower cranes after a 210-foot crane collapsed in Bellevue, killing one man, damaging three buildings and displacing dozens of apartment residents. The investigation of the Nov. 16 incident centers on the crane's stability, given its unusual base and the fact that its steel legs severed about 15 feet off the ground.

Two weeks later, another tower crane in Bellevue was dismantled because of cracks; investigators said preliminary findings indicate water trapped in the tower froze and split the steel legs. The two Bellevue incidents still are under investigation.

In the following weeks, structural problems were found in two more Western Washington cranes, and a problem arose in a fifth when the rigging swung in the wind, damaging a skyscraper in downtown Seattle.

"We are not satisfied that the level of crane oversight is adequate," Bellevue's director of development services, Mike Brennan, said at the meeting Monday.

The state does have crane safety standards, but no special state legislation has ever passed, despite numerous attempts to create stricter rules after a 1994 double-fatality due to a crane accident.

But state lawmakers said they are drafting crane safety laws for the upcoming legislative session. The new laws would require licensing or certification of crane operators and address crane inspections.

Even if the Legislature doesn't pass a law requiring operator certification, it could happen anyway. The federal government is pushing similar rules that may become effective in 2008.

Many private companies and insurers already require certification of crane operators from an accredited third party, usually the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators.

But mandating operator licensing and certification isn't a quick fix.

Several representatives from the Building and Construction Trades Council urged the state to consider how cranes are assembled, transported and stored.

"I don't want to see knee-jerk legislation passed that will be meaningless and not be safer for everyone," said Chris Elwell, executive secretary for the Seattle/King County division of the council, which represents 14,000 workers.

He supports crane and operator certification, but also wants the state to ensure cranes are treated properly in between job sites.

"We just assume that the tower crane above us is safe," said Elwell, who worked as a steamfitter for 15 years.

The Washington Crane Safety Association, formed after the 1994 incident, may be reactivated, said Thom Sicklesteel, co-chairman of that panel.

Sicklesteel, who also runs one of the state's largest crane operating companies, proposed that the state put stickers on cranes showing that they were state inspected and certified. He thinks it will be easy to find industry consensus for that rule.

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