Word on the Wire By Andy Latham andy@salvagewire.com

Prepare or Repair?

“It’s better to prepare than to repair.” —John C Maxwell

T

his quote could describe any training or development course across any

industry, and there are many to choose from out there. To Prepare – “to make ready” or “in advance of” according to my dictionary. Good training courses support profes- sionals in the Auto Recycling and Motor Salvage industry as they raise the stan- dards of knowledge and competence and their continued professional develop- ment. They also bring national recogni- tion of the added value that training programs bring to workers in terms of quality, job specific knowledge, skills and experience.

Members of the Automotive Recyclers Association are blessed with access to a large range of quality training through ARAUniversity.org, as well as other train- ing programs, but reflecting the keynote talk from John van Alstyne of ICAR at the 2014 ARA Convention, how many are tak- ing advantage of the training available to them? Training and development is becoming more important as vehicle manufacturers put more technology and advanced design into their vehicles. We have seen the rise of Ultra High Strength Steel in the last few years, aluminum is now being used by more and more manufacturers including Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover and Ford, electronics switch on lights and wipers, deploy airbags inside and outside the car, and the hi-tech electronics that stop vehicles from crashing will ultimate- ly lead to autonomous driving. Fully elec- tric vehicles are becoming more popular and it won’t be long before hydrogen powered vehicles are in common use. In fact, over the last 12 months I have been developing a range of training courses for the auto recycling industry, from technical to environmental, to lead-

26 Automotive Recycling | May-June 2015

ership and management development, and I have just received my first industry accreditation for one of my courses, The Safe Handling of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles.

This course is designed for auto recy- clers who want to prepare their staff for electric and hybrid vehicles. It is designed to give staff the confidence to handle these vehicles safely, remove any risk from damaged or leaking batteries, the con- cerns about electric shock, teach how to make the vehicles safe and then disman- tle, store and dispose of the various com- ponents safely.

The accreditation by the Waste Manage- ment Industry Training and Advisory Board (WAMITAB) looked at all areas of the training course, the literature, target audience, candidate guidance, the pur- pose of the training, course objectives or learning outcomes, the structure of the course, length of time the course lasts, delivery mode, and the instructor. All of these aspects have to satisfactori-

ly come together for the review board to approve the course and issue the Accredited Programme Certificate for the training.

As an industry, Auto Recyclers need to be training and developing their staff, preparing them for future challenges, raising their knowledge, standards, com- petence and professional standards. I have one question for industry leaders and influencers – are you doing enough to ensure that your industry will be able to grow, develop and move forward in the future? I don’t want the industry left behind, do you?

Andy Latham is Managing Director of Salvage Wire, a unique Auto Recycling consultancy with a focus on Safety, Ethics, and Profitability for all clients. With over 30 years of experience

in the automotive industry, Andy shares his knowledge, ex- perience, and wisdom garnered as an engineer, manager, and leader. For more details of Salvage Wire Training please contact Andy Latham on andy@salvagewire.com, or look at the website www.salvagewire.com