Lifting Work in the Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles region holds the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the film and TV studios, a rail transit system that keeps growing, and a downtown that adds a new tower every few years. Add hospitals, schools, freeway projects and seismic retrofits, and at any hour some crane in the basin is swinging a load.
We serve that market with crane operator training in Los Angeles held at the employer's own facility, or with open-enrollment seats at our training center in Seffner, Florida. There's no Crane School office in California, so our instructors and NCCCO accredited practical examiners come to you.
Congested Sites and Earthquake Country
In LA, a job site is usually squeezed between traffic, adjacent buildings and overhead lines, leaving scant space for outriggers or a full swing. Port terminals and studio lots throw in moving vehicles, foot traffic and tight deadlines. Planning has to account for the fall zone, nearby power lines and the ground under the crane on every pick.
Earthquake design changes the loads, too. Crews regularly lift heavy steel and concrete pieces, base isolators and retrofit hardware, many of them awkwardly shaped or with an off-center center of gravity. Skilled riggers and signalpersons count as much as the person in the cab, so plenty of LA contractors certify everyone on the lift. In fall and winter, Santa Ana winds give one more reason to keep a close eye on wind speed.
Programs Los Angeles Contractors Request
- Mobile crane operators earning or renewing NCCCO TSS, TLL or LAT can enroll in our certification prep for experienced mobile crane operators.
- Steel, studio and port crews who rig loads can work toward NCCCO Rigger Level I and II in our rigging certification course.
- Signalpersons guiding blind picks between buildings can certify in our signalperson training course.
- Project managers can take Managing Crane Safety, focused on planning, inspections and compliance.
Anyone without seat time should look at the 3-week or 5-week beginner course in Seffner.
Terminal and port operators frequently ask about inspections too. Our NCCCO certified inspectors perform annual, monthly, post-assembly and post-incident inspections, plus load testing when needed, and these can be timed to coincide with a training visit.
Your Facility or Our Seffner Campus
Contractors and port operators in LA with several candidates tend to choose on-site training. Instructors teach at your location, and practicals can run on your cranes as long as you supply a test area that meets NCCCO standards; in a crowded city, that's often a yard instead of a live job site.
Individual students can fly from LAX or any other Southern California airport into Tampa International, about twenty minutes from Seffner. Our headquarters hosts CCO written testing monthly, and the Friday-to-Monday prep course limits time away from work. Upcoming dates are on our training calendar.
Hiring operators certified elsewhere? Make sure their NCCCO cards haven't expired and that they cover the crane types on your project, then check California's added requirements before day one. That way nobody gets stopped at the gate when an owner or inspector wants paperwork.
State Requirements in California
Beyond federal OSHA, California imposes its own crane operator requirements through Cal/OSHA. Look up the current state rules and read NCCCO's state licensing information before running a crane here. Our California crane certification page covers statewide training.
