Washington is on the brink of heavily regulating construction crane safety -- a dramatic shift from its current status as one of the most lax states in the nation.

The state House unanimously approved a crane safety bill this week, and supporters said Thursday they expect the measure to be signed into law.

Starting in 2010, the law would require multiple inspections of construction cranes by a state-certified inspector. The original version of the bill had required that inspectors have no financial interest in the project, but that section was dropped from the approved bill.

Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, predicted that the bill would "sail through the Senate."

The legislation was drafted in response to November's crane collapse, where the base of a 210-foot-high tower crane failed, causing the structure to collapse and kill a man as it damaged three buildings in downtown Bellevue.

Structural problems were later found in several other cranes because of increased scrutiny following that incident.

"This piece of legislation really does a good job in creating improved public safety, and that's what we were looking for," said Mike Brennan, Bellevue's deputy director of development services.

The original bill received opposition from major firms such as The Boeing Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co., because it did not specify that it applied to construction cranes and not manufacturing cranes. The amended legislation specifies that the law applies only to "cranes used in construction work."

The law would also require both cranes and crane operators to be certified. Currently, operator certification is optional, and the state does not certify nor issue permits for the structures. To be considered qualified, operators would have to pass a drug test and have 2,000 hours of experience or training.

One section of the proposed law echoes the preliminary findings by the state Department of Labor and Industries, mandating that an independent professional engineer review any "nonstandard tower crane base."

L&I estimates that the bill would cost the state $5.07 million between 2007 and 2013. L&I plans to add several positions to enforce the bill, including a crane-safety program manager who would make $75,000 a year.

Surprising some observers, a wide range of interest groups backed the measure, including labor, management and the state.

"There are definitely issues where we wind up on opposite sides of things," said David Groves, spokesman for the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, which supports the bill.

Randy Loomans, director of government affairs for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302, which represents crane operators, acted as lead negotiator for organized labor.

"We have to be certified to operate a forklift but not a 100-ton crane in this state," she said. "This bill's really going to change lives; it's going to save lives."

Thom Sicklesteel, president of Mount Vernon-based Sicklesteel Cranes, said: "I'm excited that the department, labor and management came together and worked out a solution for safety in our industry that transcends the current situation."