Welcome to the ECOL Foundation

EUROPEAN CRANE OPERATORS LICENCE

Welcome to the website of ECOL, the European Crane Operators Licence project.

Currently each European Member State has its own rules for the professional competence and certification of crane operators. These rules range from compulsory to optional and even to no rules at all. The differences can lead to confusion, have a negative impact on safety and also prevent the mobility of crane operators in Europe.

For this reason ECOL is committed to developing a system for the optimum distribution of safe and qualified crane operators within Europe.

ECOL is a non-profit organisation, structured as a foundation under Dutch law and governed by a supervisory board with representatives from the crane users, crane manufacturers and crane operator labour unions.

It is ECOL’s ambition to:

• enable every crane operator in Europe to demonstrate that he or she meets the minimum requirements of the industry.
• enable every crane operator to exercise his profession in any European member state, without having to attend multiple unnecessary retraining and examination sessions.
• enable every employer to assess the qualifications and experience of any operator applying for a position.
• enable every site or plant manager to check the qualifications and experience of any crane operator who enters his construction site or plant.