Certificate
- Introduction
- European Chainsaw Standards
- European Chainsaw Certificate
- What's in it for me?
- How to obtain it?
Introduction
The development of the European Chainsaw Certificate, ECC, is a work in progress. About 15 different European countries are working on the creation of the organisational structure, a data base for certificate holders, the examination procedure, the verification procedure and are making sure the quality of the process remains assured. ECC is based on the European Chainsaw Standards and the first will be issued towards fall 2011.
European Chainsaw Standards
The standards to use a chainsaw are different in every country and every country has its own language and specific requirements so the training and examination concept from one country is not simply transferable to another country. Therefore we needed to set European standards that would be accepted by all project partners/countries. The innovative content of the European concept is based around the NPTC testing materials. Through the addition or adaption of current work techniques on felling methods in other European countries the standards have been set to a European level. After research on national chainsaw systems in place and a needs analysis of European and UK (LANTRA) National Occupational Standards (NOS), mapping and comparing the different results and review and discussions amongst all partners, the draft version of the European Chainsaw Standards was created. Now the standards will be reviewed and consulted both nationally and internationally with the forestry and related industries.
There are four different levels of ECS:
Though an updated version of the European Chainsaw Standards has been created by the project partners, we will provide a final version when the quality assurance process is finalised, which is September 2010.
A provisonal version can be downloaded here.
European Chainsaw Certificate
The European Chainsaw Certificate, ECC, is a certificate that can be obtained after succeeding a chainsaw examination in one of the certified training providers. At the moment no certified training providers exist yet, since the certificate is still being developed. A database of certificate issuing organisations will be put on this websites as soon as the process is finalised.
The ECC can be obtained after entering a training course followed by an examination to test the skills learned or can be obtained by only succeeding for the examination. Unless you are an experienced chainsaw user and have followed a training course in the past, we strongly suggest you opt for the training course before trying out for the certificate.
At the moment to work with a chainsaw the ECC is NOT compulsory in any country, but you might have certain advantages if you are a certificate holder.
What's in it for me?
As mentioned before the European Chainsaw Certificate is not compulsory for chainsaw users, not for professionals nor for people who use it occasionally. Then you might ask yourself ‘why go through the trouble to obtain it?’ Here’s the answer:
Whether you are a professional or a gardener who occasionally works with a chainsaw the most important issue when using a chainsaw is safety. In the training and examination procedure on each level they focus on the safety issue, not only safety in terms of holding on to all 4 limbs, but also stressing the importance of ergonomics while using a chainsaw, taking care of a safe environment, doing a risk assessment, etc. On all 4 levels safety is the basic precondition for carrying out the work, from cross cutting a log to putting down a big oak.
But there’s more benefits to ECC than just the safety issue:
Improved MOBILITY: When a big storm occurs there’s usually not enough experienced chainsaw professionals in the area, or sometimes the country, to clean the site. Often forestry entrepreneurs from all over the country and even from neighbouring countries are asked for assistance. The problem is that often the screening of their professional skills can not be verified; a certificate does not exist and years of experience do not always represent the required skills for the job. A European certificate that vouches for the holder’s skills would be the answer to this problem. Off course there will be a verification system in place (e.g. a European database) to verify if the validity of the certificate. Though we give the example of a storm, also on other occasions, like searching for a job in forestry or wanting to start a business in forestry abroad, a certificate to prove your competences in handling a chainsaw will help you a big deal.
UNIFORMITY of skills and competences: claiming to be an experienced chainsaw user can mean different things to different people: some regard using a chainsaw every day as ‘often’, some every month as ‘all the time’. Let alone the purpose they are using it for and how it is being used, when hiring someone to do the job a contractor wants to be sure he is dealing with professionals who can do the job in a safe and qualitative manner. It is not unlikely that in the future municipalities and other civil service departments will put the possession of an ECC as a precondition to file for a public tender dealing with chainsaw use.
TRANSPARENCY: the data of every holder of an ECC will be gathered in a national and European database which makes it possible for all stakeholders to search for licensed certificate holders and verify data when contracting forestry entrepreneurs.
How to obtain it?
The European Chainsaw Certificate is still being developed within this project. In case you are interested in receiving information about the project, please subscribe to our 3-monthly newsletter or write an email to info@europeanchainsaw.eu.
