Crane and Hoist Canada

Features Profiles
A trailblazer for standards in Alberta

Judy Mellott-Green committed to improving standards for overhead crane industry

December 9, 2018  By Andrew Snook


Judy Mellott-Green

There are few people with more years dedicated to standards in Canada’s overhead crane industry than Judy Mellott-Green. The president and CEO of the All Canadian Training Institute (ACTi) has been active in the industry for nearly three decades, and is just as passionate as ever about promoting safety and improving standards across Canada. Judy still participates as a technical committee member on the CSA B167 Overhead Crane Standard and has participated on all revisions of this standard. She has participated in committees with the CSA for many years and looks back on her years working with CSA committees with great fondness.

“It’s been a very good working relationship,” Judy says during a meeting at ACTi’s head office in Edmonton, Alta.

That feeling is obviously mutual, as the CSA presented Judy with the CSA 2016 Award of Merit in recognition of her exemplary goal-oriented leadership.

In addition to her work on the CSA B167 Crane Standard, Judy is the CSA’s recognized liaison to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ ASME B30 Standards – the first Canadian to have ever been recognized as the CSA liaison on the ASME B30 Standards Committee. This work is vital to Canada’s overhead crane industry, as the ASME B 30 Overhead Cranes standards are recognized and utilized by all applicable industries across Canada.

Advertisement

There is good reason Judy was selected for such an important role. Judy got her start in the industry in 1989 working hand-in-hand with her husband Bill Green at All Crane Parts & Service, an overhead crane inspection and maintenance company in Edmonton. Bill had the industry experience and he encouraged her to get involved, and Judy learned quickly, and recognized a need for improved safety regulations within the industry in Alberta.

“The existing occupational health and safety regulations for overhead cranes contained limited content, and were in need of revision,” she says.

From there, Judy began her work finding ways to improve safety regulations for crane operators in Alberta. She met with Alberta Workplace Health & Safety (AWHS) director Ray Cislo to discuss updating these sections of the code. Cislo said they could set up a meeting to discuss the need for changes and Judy would need to bring industry to the table, to discuss revision of existing safety codes to current CSA B167 standards. Judy gathered more than 15 of the largest companies in Alberta; resulting in forming an industry occupational health and safety working committee. The Safety Code for Overhead Cranes was successfully revised and published. Since that time, Judy has been responsible for forming three AWHS industry revision committees – she was the chairperson for two of them – and that work has resulted in two “Industry Best Practices Bulletins” being published by AWHS, including two subsequent revisions. These practices still stand as the current industry minimum requirements in Alberta.

It wasn’t long before she became a CSA committee member on the B167 Overhead Crane Standard, participating on three revision committees to the current CSA B167-16. Since CSA references the ASME B30 standards, there was an important need for CSA to have representation on the ASME B 30.2 Overhead Cranes standards, as they are utilized by Canadian industries across Canada. This was proposed to David Shanahan, director for CSA B167 and Michael Merker, executive director for ASME B30 standards, and was approved. Judy is the first Canadian to be approved and recognized as CSA Liaison on the ASME B30 Standards. The purpose of this alliance is to ensure the ASME B30 Standards are also recognized and utilized in all applicable industries across Canada.

In addition to her work with the CSA and ASME over the years, Judy still actively works with AWHS, assisting in revising the codes and regulations related to overhead cranes.

Judy was also a task force member for the National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators’ (NCCCO) certification program for overhead crane operators. Her work on this task force resulted in the NCCCO changing the certification exam requirement to be applicable to all overhead lifting equipment five tons and over.

And when she’s not busy helping organizations improve standards, she is an active writer for various international industry magazines (Crane & Hoist Canada included, starting with our March/April 2019 issue).

To say she has kept her plate full over the years would be a severe understatement. This is especially true since she has performed all of this volunteer work while running the All Canadian Training Institute for the past 25 years, which provides industry with safety training for overhead crane operators and supervisors. This training provides operators and supervisors across Canada and the U.S. with all the necessary tools to ensure the safety training they provide to their employees is current and compliant with all applicable CSA and ASME standards.

Without question, Judy Mellott-Green’s commitment to improving safety standards within the overhead crane industry has made a significant impact in the improvement of standards not only in Alberta, but the rest of Canada as well. To any other individual that is equally passionate about advancing standards within the industry, Judy offers this advice:

“All types of powered lift equipment from a pallet jack, forklift, to a mobile crane, etc. has the potential to result in an injury accident or fatality, if improperly operated,” she says. “Please ensure all lifting equipment is inspected and maintained in accordance to applicable CSA-B167 and ASME B30 standards, prior to operating. Ensure all equipment operators are properly trained on the equipment, as well as rigging hardware, inspections, load calculations and applications. It is ACTi’s objective to ensure every worker is safe at the end of shift.”

For more information about the All Canadian Training Institute Inc., visit www.actisafety.ca.


Print this page

Advertisement

Stories continue below