CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2020 35 ESTA ESTA’s bid to cut onshore wind sector accidents Mobile cranes on barges: new ICSA guidance later this year New guidance on the safe use of mobile cranes on barges is expected to be published before the end of the year. The announcement was made following the latest meeting of the International Crane Stakeholders Assembly (ICSA), held in the USA in March. ESTA is a member of the ICSA along with organisations from the USA, Canada, Australia and Japan. Work to develop new guidance on the use of cranes on barges started after an accident in the Netherlands in 2015. The Dutch safety Board’s video of the incident can be seen here www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJevke4_i5Y Further information about the ICSA and its work can be found at www.icsa-crane.org ESTA - the European Association for Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes - represents national trade associations whose members are crane rental and abnormal road transport companies. ESTA also welcomes affiliate members from equipment manufacturers and other relevant organisations. In addition, ESTA recently created the category of ‘Supporter’ for companies that are members of ESTA’s national associations but who want to become more directly involved in ESTA’s work. Today, ESTA has 89 members, affiliates and supporting organisations from 22 countries. From the UK, the CPA and the Heavy Transport Association are both ESTAmembers. For more information, go to www.estaeurope.eu Promoting safety and efficiency - ESTA’s role and priorities European mobile crane and heavy transport association ESTA has published a new best practice guide in an attempt to cut onshore wind farm accidents. For a limited period, the Best Practice Guide for the Transport and Installation of Onshore WTG Systems is available to download free of charge from the organisation’s website at www.estaeurope.eu/BPGwind The guide was produced by ESTA with support from the major turbine and crane manufacturers. Work on the detailed 52-page guide began three years ago amid growing concern at the number of accidents and near misses during the construction of onshore wind farms - and fears that the increasing size of the new generation of wind turbines could make the situation worse. David Collett, ESTA President and Managing Director of the Collett Group in the UK, said: “One of the features of the document and our work is to stress the importance of early engagement of all of the firms working on a project, and especially the crane and transport companies. “The next step is for us to talk to the developers, utilities, clients - and their contractors and consultants - and to persuade them that it is in their interests to ensure that their projects adopt best practice, as we have set out.” Support grows for ESTA’s European Crane Operators Licence ESTA’s newEuropean Crane Operators Licence (ECOL) continues to take root bothwithin Europe and internationally. In the latest development, ECOL looks set to sign a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the British Columbia Association for Crane Safety (BCACS) fromCanada. The agreement will mean that an ECOL licence and a BCACS licence will be interchangeable and operators holding them will be able to work in both territories. ESTA Director Ton Klijn said: “This shows the growing international interest in the scheme. ECOL can improve both safety and employment flexibility, allowing good operators to work wherever they are needed.” ECOL’s first MRA was signed with the Netherlands late last year, and the organisation hopes to have further MRAs in place in the near future. Meanwhile in Germany, Crane & Logistics Partner (C&LP) has been certified as ECOL’s first German-based examination institute. Immediately following certification - and before the lockdown - the first three examinations in the German language were performed by C&LP at Liebherr’s training facility. Liebherr completed the process of becoming an approved European Crane Operators Licence training centre and received its ECOL Certificate earlier in March. For more information about ECOL, go to www.ecol-esta.eu