Lawmakers are supportive of crane safety legislation that would prevent a repeat of last fall's crane accident in Bellevue, but some manufacturing and utility companies worry it could be bad for business.

Businesses worry the proposal goes too far and would regulate not only cranes used in construction, but also smaller cranes and equipment used to install power lines or move products along an assembly line.

Weyerhaeuser and Boeing are among the companies that do not support the bill.

"The key is that businesses involved in manufacturing of airplanes, forest products and also utilities providers use certain kinds of cranes in manufacturing," said Grant Nelson of the Association of Washington Business. "Either we need to define what construction is, or we need to add language that further clarifies which cranes are not covered."

Momentum has built for increased regulation of construction cranes since November, when a 210-foot crane tower collapsed in Bellevue, damaging several buildings and killing a man inside his apartment.

An ongoing Department of Labor and Industries investigation points to the crane's custom-designed base as the cause of its failure, sources close to the investigation told the Seattle P-I.

The proposal to improve inspections of crane equipment and certify crane operators has the support of construction workers, the Department of Labor and Industries, the city of Bellevue, and two-thirds of the Senate.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor, said its language could be reworked further to clarify its focus on construction cranes, but that it is important something be done this session to address crane safety.

"We had a real tragedy last November," she said. "We have the momentum to do something very significant."

Other legislators suggested that the proposal was too limited, since it would apply only to cranes and not to other types of construction equipment.

"The residents of our state are subjected a lot to equipment out in the public," said Sen. Rosa Franklin, D-Tacoma.

Franklin said it was sad that the state didn't learn its lesson in 1994, when a crane collapse at the Kingdome killed two workers.

"I don't think it should have really taken this long," she said.

The bill, SB5990, would require cranes be inspected annually by a certified crane inspector, and have their parts inspected whenever they are dismantled and reassembled. It would require L&I to develop a process for certifying crane inspectors and operators, and all crane operators to have a certificate issued by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. In addition, all crane bases that deviate from the standard design would have to be inspected by an independent engineer or firm before being used.

The bill would take effect beginning in 2010 to give construction firms time to train their workers and L&I time to develop its training and certification programs.

The companion bill, HB2171, will have a hearing Wednesday before the House Labor and Commerce Committee.

Allan Darr, business manager for the local International Union of Operating Engineers, said the proposal is necessary for the well-being of construction workers as well as ordinary citizens.

"We expect the crane in which we operate to be safe in all aspects," he said. "We expect secondly that the training the operator has to operate that crane has to be impeccable. We expect, as the general public does, to be safe."

Seattle resident Peggy Tlapak, whose husband was a crane operator who died in 1990 while working on faulty equipment, said it is time the state considered a measure like this.

"This has been 17 years of waiting," she said.

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