NCCCO approves calculator use

The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) has agreed that basic electronic calculators can now be permitted for use on certain CCO written exams.

The US organisation decided on the change in policy after results from an International Assessment Institute (IAI) study, entitled ‘The Effects of Calculator Use During NCCCO Testing'. The study concluded that, while the use of calculators would not be appropriate for use on basic math questions such as those contained in CCO Core exams, their use would be supportable on load chart calculations used on CCO Specialty exams.

The study notes that: "a calculator would not help a candidate deduce the correct answer on load chart questions since there are multiple problem-solving steps required for a correct answer."

NCCCO will start providing calculators for use at all NCCCO mobile crane written test administrations beginning with exams administered July 2, 2012.