TRAINING Support learning


If we as an industry want our engineers to fulfil their potential, then we need to acknowledge the difficulties that our learners experience and work towards bridging this gap in support that is available to them. John North, lecturer at Eastleigh College explains.


O


urs is a niche industry and our trainee engineers get little in the way of support. This is in stark contrast to the support that


someone installing an unvented boiler, for example, could expect to find with a few clicks of a mouse on any search engine. This lack of support extends beyond the internet with a noticeable difference in the material available to RAC learners in our College library when compared to the more mainstream trades. It is far from doom and gloom though and I


think that it is right and proper to acknowledge the work done by the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) to support our trainees. The IOR offers discounts for people undergoing training, provides a welcome source of knowledge and technical updates and more recently has been extremely supportive of those learners who have found their studies curtailed with Covid-19, offering free access to their on- line resources and access to webinars delivered by industry experts. Tackling a more contentious issue, apprenticeships have morphed into something a world away from what they were when I began to make my way in the world of work. The current Standards, the new name for apprenticeships, were initially set up to with a remit to upskill our learners beyond the level that they have previously achieved. A noble aim you might think, but I would question whether our industry actually needs all its people to be upskilled to this higher level. I am of course in favour of individuals being able to reach their full potential and from a lecturer’s perspective there is nothing more rewarding. That said, I have seen countless learners come through our doors that spend the vast majority of their time on installation work, going from install to install. For most, this doesn’t even provide opportunities for commissioning, let alone anything else. The Government has stipulated that all


apprenticeship Standards require that the apprentice progress all the way through to level three, but should this be the benchmark for apprenticeships? Is there a need or requirement for this in our Industry? With the Government actively promoting


26 August 2020


apprenticeships with a funding package that makes the apprentice option very difficult to ignore, there has been a big uptake in employers sending their employees to us to undertake an apprenticeship. In terms of support for the learner, one thing that could be a simple fix is for employers who send their learners to us to gain a level two qualification including an NVQ to encourage and support the learner through the process of building an NVQ portfolio. It is surprisingly commonplace for learners to express their frustration at the lack of support that they get from their employer when it comes to the gathering of evidence from paperwork in the office or even being provided with the opportunity to get the necessary types of work required – just going from install to install isn’t enough. It would appear that I’m beating up the employer,


but in fairness I have seen some who are extremely supportive of their trainees. It would be wrong for me not to acknowledge that learning not only takes place within the college environment but also within the workplace. It is also worth acknowledging that with the diversity that our industry brings – whether it be with specific equipment or processes – that there are specific training needs which invariably fall to the employer to address within the workplace. As we continue to drive the use of HFC’s


down, industry has been busy replacing these environmentally damaging refrigerants with more benign alternatives. R32 has played a big part in this process to date. Given the flammability potential of R32 and the HFO’s which are also becoming more commonplace (A2L) as well as HC’s of course (A3), I believe that there is good reason to re-visit the current gas handling regulations. I think there is limited understanding by a


number of engineers as to the health and safety considerations. I confess to being somewhat perplexed as to why a ‘refrigerant handling’ update has not been mandated at this time. I know suppliers have been on board with upskilling for these new refrigerants but I can’t help but feel we are at a point where some evidence of competence, stretching beyond ‘attended a course’, is required. You might say I have a vested interest in this as


a lecturer and you’d be right. That said, I believe as an industry we should ensure that anyone working with these hazardous refrigerants has a proven competence in both the theory and practical elements.


One thought I have going forward, hopefully


putting the Covid-19 pandemic behind us, is the impact that this will have had on young people in general. I have noticed a change in the behaviour and demeanour of a number of learners who are now returning to us to complete assessments in the College. It strikes me how vulnerable these young people are, although this is not always outwardly evident, but if you spend enough time with them, you can see it.


With the sad demise of Caroline Flack earlier this year, there was an urge in the media for us all to be ‘be kind’. I feel that is even more needed now, I hope those responsible for our next generation of RACHP engineers take the time to ensure not only the physical but also their mental wellbeing. As I said, we are now getting students returning to complete their qualifications. This will hopefully be as close to their intended end dates as possible. So we are now looking to the next intake of trainees both apprentices and fee paying students who are already applying to join the college when we open again fully after the summer. Finally, we will need to look at our delivery pattern at the college. We presently provide day and block release along with evening programs. We will need to change this to accommodate the amount of classes that are going to be produced due to social distancing and the associated reduction in class sizes. Our plan is to move towards a more structured block release program where students will be able to retain more over five days in a row instead of one day a week. This will shorten the amount of time that will be required to complete the course due to the intensity of the training given. Our evening classes will remain for those unable


to attend the block release programs. We will also still be providing all of our F-Gas, Hydrocarbon and other tailored short courses as and when required by our customers.


www.acr-news.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68