BS ISO 15513: Competency requirements for crane drivers (operators), slingers, signallers and assessors

BS ISO 15513 is the international standard on competence for crane operators, slingers, signallers and their assessors. This guide covers the roles it sets out, how it sits beside UK card schemes and where its revision stands.

Overview

What BS ISO 15513 is

BS ISO 15513 is the UK adoption of the international standard on competence for crane operators, slingers and signallers, and for the assessors who check them. It sets out how they are chosen, trained and assessed, and how their competence is confirmed.

In short

The current edition dates from 2000, and ISO has started work on a second edition.
Lifting people and piling are outside it.
CPCS and NPORS publish their own standards, and neither names it.
LOLER and PUWER require training and competence, and leave the method to the employer.

Full title	Cranes — Competency requirements for crane drivers (operators), slingers, signallers and assessors
Reference	BS ISO 15513:2000
Current edition	Published by BSI on 15 July 2000, identical to ISO 15513:2000
Publisher	BSI, adopting the standard written by ISO committee ISO/TC 96/SC 5
Status	Current, under review
Legal status	A voluntary standard. Only the regulations it supports carry legal force.
Intended for	Employers and training providers, and the assessors who check crane operators, slingers and signallers

Scope

Which roles BS ISO 15513 covers

The BSI summary lists four roles.

Crane driver	The operator at the controls of the crane
Slinger	The person who attaches and detaches the load
Signaller	The person who directs the crane driver by signals
Assessor	The person who judges whether someone in the other roles is competent

Special operations such as lifting people and piling are outside it. It refers to ISO 12480-1 for who is responsible for what in a crane operation. Training for slingers and signallers is covered separately by ISO 23853:2023.

Two operatives in orange hi-vis and white hard hats on a steel platform watching a conveyor section being lowered through an opening in the roof — Operatives watching a load come down through a roof opening.

In the UK

BS ISO 15513 and UK card schemes

Crane operators and slingers in the UK often hold cards from schemes such as CPCS and NPORS, and neither scheme says it certifies against BS ISO 15513. CPCS follows the principles of BS EN ISO/IEC 17024, the standard for bodies that certify people, and draws on British Standards and National Occupational Standards. The NPORS slinger and signaller standard cites LOLER and BS 7121-1 among its sources. For lorry loaders, ALLMI runs CSCS-approved cards.

BS ISO 15513 has no appointed person or crane supervisor, the two roles that BS 7121-1 uses to plan and control a lift.

The law

How BS ISO 15513 relates to LOLER and PUWER

Regulation 9 of PUWER requires employers to train people who use work equipment, and employees who supervise or manage its use, in using it safely and the precautions to take. Regulation 8 of LOLER requires each lifting operation to be properly planned by a competent person and appropriately supervised. Neither names a standard for competence, and HSE’s L113 Approved Code of Practice and guidance on LOLER does not name BS ISO 15513.

Holding a card does not by itself show the law is met, because the employer still has to judge whether a person is competent for the job in hand. The same duties apply in Northern Ireland under its 1999 versions of LOLER and PUWER.

Editions

Edition history and revision

The 2000 edition is the first and only one. ISO reviewed it in January 2024, kept it in force, and the following month marked it for revision. BSI published the draft second edition for public comment in November 2024, but ISO cancelled that draft in November 2025 and approved a new revision project in May 2026. BSI shows the UK edition as current and under review.

Sources and further reading