02.11.2015

Canadian-Irish crane operator certification

The Canadian Hoisting and Rigging Safety Council, British Columbia based BC Association for Crane Safety and the Irish further education and training authority An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna (SOLAS), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the mutual recognition of each other’s crane operator certifications.

The actual signing ceremony took place on September 16th in Dublin, and is intended to improve the international mobility of crane operators between Ireland and British Columbia and other Canadian provinces that accept the BC certification.
Please register to see all images

The signing ceremony in Dublin

Tim Bennett chairman of the Canadian Hoisting and Rigging association said: “This memorandum is the result of an industry vision that was initiated a year and a half ago as part of the ESDC/CHRSC Multi-Jurisdiction Crane Operator Regulation Certification Comparison and Reciprocity Initiative. which was funded through the Canadian government’s Foreign Credential Recognition Programme. Our thanks go to the many crane industry volunteers in Canada who worked on this initiative, and also to our colleagues in Ireland for their reciprocal contributions and effort, leading to this agreement.”

Mary-Liz Trant, executive director of SOLAS added: “We are very pleased that this agreement has been finalised and our thanks to everyone involved. Canada is a popular destination for Irish emigrants and I believe this agreement will assist many of them and their Canadian Employers. We look forward to continuing our working relationship with the BC Association for Crane Safety.”

SOLAS is responsible for funding, planning and co-ordinating training and further education programmes.
The Canadian Hoisting and Rigging Safety Council (CHRSC) is an industry-led organisation working toward common hoisting and rigging standards across Canada.
The BC Association for Crane Safety (BCACS) works with industry, labour and government to implement new standards of assessment and certification to create a safer workplace. It administers a comprehensive certification regime for crane operations throughout British Columbia.

Vertikal Comment

This is a very interesting development, at a time when ESTA is working hard to finalise the European Crane Operator Licence, here is an example of two organisations getting together, checking the compatibility of their respective certification programmes and then signing an agreement.

This might be a good example for others to follow, as a lead into the European licence? One also wonders of when the European licence comes into force, assuming the Ireland signs up to it, what will this mean for those with the Canadian certification? Will it allow them to work all over Europe?
While this initiative and will not affect too many operators, and is a small factor in the overall scheme of things it does show what can be done and is an encouraging sign for the future and might just prompt others to move to a point where certification programmes become more international.