CPA Bulletin

26 CPA Bulletin > May 2021 www.cpa.uk.net ESTA: 1 ESTA Sarens won one of the top crane categories at this year’s ESTA Awards for its work at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. The awards were held online for the second year running due to the pandemic. Belgian firm Sarens won the Cranes Lattice Boom category. Two other crane categories were both won by Dutch firms. Mammoet won the category for Cranes Telescopic Lifting, capacity over 120t, while the category for less than 120t was won by Wagenborg Nedlift. For details of the winning projects plus the full list of winners and finalists in all ten categories, go to the awards section of the ESTA website at www.estaeurope.eu . ECOL reaches out to Germany and UK with new in-company training scheme ESTA’s growing European Crane Operators Licence (ECOL) has adopted a new in- company apprentice training structure which the organisation’s leaders hope will make it easier for countries with a strong tradition of apprenticeships to become directly involved in the project. In light of the development, one leading German organisation has already indicated that it intends to agree a Mutual Recognition Agreement with ECOL, and ECOL managers hope that the change will lead to discussions with the CPA about the UK’s involvement as well. ECOL’s new system for executing practical training in an in-company or apprenticeship setting involves a number of specific requirements. These include: • Declaration of details of the in-company training scheme upon registration of the applicant • Training duration of at least 280 hours • Applicant keeping a record of his/her working hours and actions in the ECOL SkillRecord logbook. ECOL also requires that the last 40 hours of this practical training should be carried out at an ECOL training institute. The exact content of those final sessions is agreed following an analysis of the apprentice’s logbook to ensure all elements are completed satisfactorily. In addition, the training institute will conduct at least two unannounced survey visits to the training company and the apprentice during the first 240 hours of practical training. Ton Klijn, ESTA Director and a member of the ECOL Supervisory Board, said: “We recognised that several European countries have high-quality and long-established apprenticeship systems that provide an important route into the industry for many young people, and as a result we have adapted ECOL’s requirements. In all these detailed discussions, we have to remember the great long-term safety and business benefits that we believe ECOL will deliver throughout Europe. “Any crane rental company hiring an operator from overseas will know that an operator holding an up-to-date and verifiable ECOL qualification has been properly trained to the required standard without the need for any further training or examination.” ECOL in talks over rigger training ESTA’s European Crane Operator Licence is in talks about the possibility of developing a rigger training scheme to run alongside its increasingly popular operator training courses. The move was revealed at the online ECOL Participants meeting and followed discussions at the most recent meeting of the ECOL Supervisory Board. The Board gave the go-ahead for ECOL to investigate the issue in more detail. Following the Board meeting, ECOL informally contacted a number of leading industry companies to test their reaction. The idea received a positive response from the oil and gas sector in particular, notably Shell and Exxon Mobile, and ECOL experts are now drawing up more detailed plans. ESTA Director Ton Klijn said: “Currently, rigger qualifications are often different in different companies and countries and it may be that ECOL can help create a common standard that would improve safety and efficiency. That is what we are currently investigating and we will be talking to those authorities who currently run rigger training to see if we can develop a common and acceptable Europe-wide approach.” Sarens’ work at Hinkley Point wins European award