Obituary: Gunnar Mardon

With regret we report the death of Gunnar Mardon. Most recently in the crane industry he was a member of the European Crane Operators Licence working group where his support and expertise was of great assistance in helping take the ECOL project to the verge of being launched. ECOL is a project led by the European association of abnormal road transport and mobile cranes (ESTA).

Gunnar was also chief executive officer at Canada’s National Occupational Council.

He had more than 25 years of national and international senior management and board-level experience in industry, serving as an advisor to a number of organisations regarding standards and accreditation systems applicable across national and international frameworks.

He was also a partner and co-founder of SkillRecord Systems Inc., supporting skilled occupations and trades in Canada.

Fraser Cocks, executive director of the British Columbia Association for Crane Safety and also a member of the ECOL working group, said, “Gunnar was a true rock for all of us. He was a solid presence, always there, always willing to be of service, sharing his reasonable, balanced Gunnar views on situations.”

Ton Klijn, ESTA director, added, “I have come to know Gunnar as a loyal and committed member of our ECOL workgroup who strongly advanced our project with the Canadian authorities. His contributions in our workgroup meetings will be dearly missed.

“Our thoughts go out to his family, especially his partner Diane and their two children.”

Gunnar Mardon died on 2 October following a stroke.