CPA Bulletin

30 CPA Bulletin > August 2018 www.cpa.uk.net TRAINING: 3 ESTA - the European Association for Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes , started work on a European-wide operator licence for mobile crane operators back in 2013 in an attempt to raise standards, improve safety and ease the looming skills shortage. Currently each European country has its own training and competence requirements for crane operators, differing from country to country and range from compulsory to optional and, in a few cases, no rules at all. These differences can lead to confusion and has a negative impact on safety and also can prevent the mobilisation of crane operators throughout Europe. It was further noted that a mobile crane operator can drive their machine on the highway throughout Europe on a single licence, but require different certification for each country they would be operating in. Furthermore, there was no harmonisation on crane categorisation from certification bodies. It was for these reasons that ESTA committed itself to developing a programme to set minimum standards and qualify crane operators within participating countries within Europe. The intended outcome is to enable crane operators in Europe to demonstrate that they meet minimum standards set by industry and allow the transfer of crane operators to alleviate shortages within each country. Similar initiatives have been established in the United States (NCCCO) and Australia (CICA) and recently Canada. There is no intention for the ECOL certificate to directly replace existing countries certification but provide a platform allowing a pan-European high- standards skills and knowledge set to be used as an entry criteria to a country’s PROGRESSION OF THE ESTA EUROPEAN CRANE OPERATOR LICENCE (ECOL) PROJECT