News
ECA launches women’s training initiative
APEX WINS INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST CENTRE CONTRACT
APEX WIRING SOLUTIONS has won the prestigious multi-million pound electrical wiring contract for the newly built International Broadcast Centre in Stratford, East London. The International Broadcast Centre will be used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and will accommodate 20,000 journalists, broadcasters and photographers who will be reporting around- the-clock to a global audience of four billion people.
A state-of-the-art modular wiring solution was required because installation work undertaken by The Designer Group has to
be finished within an extremely tight timeframe – it’s due to complete by April 2012.
The pre-assembled and fully tested modular components will be produced at Apex’s Durham manufacturing facility and supplied to site to ensure the tight installation programme is achieved. Dave Lewis, managing director of Apex, said: ‘The cost, time saving and environmental benefits of modular wiring systems are becoming increasingly recognised in the UK, enabling electrical contractors to complete even the most complex installations quicker and more efficient than ever before.’
THE ECA HAS LAUNCHED a new campaign – Wired for Success: ECA Women into Electrical Contracting – with the aim of bringing more women into the electrical industry and breaking down barriers that prevent women from entering the sector. Working with principal
partner, housing association L&Q, an initial 12 women candidates have been recruited to launch the innovative programme. The candidates will follow an industry-recognised training scheme that will allow them to work competently and safely in the domestic environment. The new certificate in installing, testing and commissioning electrical installations in dwellings is expected to be launched in early 2012, and will be incorporated into the EAS- developed training programme for the candidates.
The campaign sees the ECA working in partnership
with other like-minded organisations to help address women’s under-representation in the sector, while also helping address the potential future skills shortage in the UK electrical industry. At present, women comprise less than one per cent of qualified operatives in the electrical contracting industry. Launched in London in late
October, the Wired for Success campaign is spearheaded by the ECA’s skills ambassador, and immediate past president, Diane Johnson. She commented: ‘The Wired
for Success Initiative takes an issue that is plaguing government – getting people into work – and provides a blueprint for success, which we believe can be adopted across the craft sector, while tackling a potentially crippling industry problem head on.’ She added: ‘At the same time, we are looking at how we, as an industry, can respond to the demands of our customers. There are many vulnerable people in our society; the elderly, single women and women from ethnic backgrounds with strict cultural rules who would prefer a female electrician to carry out work in their home.’ The programme will also offer some candidates a pathway into the commercial and industrial sector by taking them through the one-year follow-on bridging process enabling them to work in this environment. Read more about the initiative on pages 36-41.
ELLIS PATENTS URGES TEST CAUTION
ELLIS PATENTS HAS issued a stark warning that incorrect interpretation of short-circuit test reports is leading to inappropriate cleats being inadvertently specified and installed – a situation that is putting vital electrical installations and lives at unnecessary risk. The issue, according to the company’s managing director, Richard Shaw (pictured), is that the headline figure reported on third party test reports is frequently, and mistakenly, taken to mean that the products tested deliver the
8 ECA Today November 2011
same level of short-circuit withstand, irrespective of the installation. ‘You cannot say that a specific cable cleat has a short-circuit withstand of 150kA without qualifying the statement,’ said Shaw. ‘For example, you’d need to say that the cleat has a short-circuit withstand of 150kA when securing 43mm cable in trefoil at 300mm centres.’
Shaw highlights a recent
report showing a product withstanding a peak short- circuit of 138kA, but that on full reading it became
clear that the test rig was set up with four trefoil circuits in parallel and that, under these circumstances, whilst the overall fault level was 138kA, each of the four trefoil groups only saw a quarter of the fault, equivalent to 34.5kA. Shaw concluded:
‘This example is just one of many, but it clearly highlights the need for third party test reports to be carefully analysed. ‘As a leading
manufacturer we are more than happy to offer advice.’
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