All industries in the built environment sector use construction products but misuse can lead to dangerous and potentially fatal outcomes. Ensuring those who use those products are competent is vital if we are to create built environments that are safe, efficient and perform well. This requires implementation across the supply chain; manufacturing, design, sub-contractors and those responsible for maintenance. Professional and trade associations continue to work tirelessly to ‘higher the bar’ but applying consistency across the board must now be part of our focus. It is sad fact, that tragedy is often a primary driver for change. A fatality involving a powered pedestrian door led to the formation of the Automatic Door Suppliers Association in 1985. Its founding desire was to improve skills and competence and 37 years on that remains at the heart of what we do. Dictionary definitions around capability frequently highlight the need for ‘knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform critical work functions’. However, it is useful to consider the Health and Safety Executive’s take as being, a ‘combination of training skills, experience and knowledge that a person has and their ability to apply them to perform a task safely.’ This meaning hits on a subtle difference – it puts the ‘person’ at the centre of the requirement. The reality is that competence is not just about job knowledge but also about a person’s willingness and attitude. Training alone does not achieve competence. Acquired knowledge will decline or be superseded over time, requiring professional skills to be regularly refreshed. This is why Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is essential – initiating a personal commitment to maintain and update knowledge. Within the automatic door industry, this applies not only to technicians but to all professionals within associated organisations – from major manufacturers to sole traders. ADSA encourages CPD through several initiatives. This includes our soon-to-be-launched Pinnacle Programme which will offer role-based NVQ qualifications for advancement or lateral progression across a series of vocational skills at various levels. The ADSA Academy is also a vital resource - an online learning platform, it is available to all employees of member companies. It hosts more than 100 courses - 30 new ones have been added this year. It includes general and role-specific learning along with technical updates. Build UK and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS card) drives the vetting of competence for site-based construction workers. Digitisation has made competency more transparent by enabling organisations and their on-site card checkers greater accessibility to records. A total of 2.1 million cards across the industry can now be verified using a mobile phone app - an easy and secure way of ensuring everyone on site has the right qualifications and training for their allocated jobs. As one of the 38 card scheme delivery partners, ADSA was delighted to play an active role in making this initiative become a reality. As part of the steering group leading up to its launch earlier this year, we worked to apply a technical solution to enable fail-safe checks that would also allow cardholders to update personal information. Of course, competency needs to be assessed to ensure its validity. NVQs have become a critical way to achieve this - especially for those who are established, field-based workers. From December 2024, it will no longer be possible to issue skilled worker competency cards under the old ‘grandfather rights’. This will end and only those with industry-based NVQs or apprenticeship qualifications will be regarded as skilled workers. The role of the Entrance Systems Alliance (ESA) – our training and NVQ delivery partnership with the Door and Hardware Federation (dhf) - is facilitating this change and underpins our aim for education, standards and advancement. Developing future workforces through apprenticeships is a surefire way to encourage a new generation into specialist or niche sectors of the construction industry, helping curb potential skills shortages. Apprenticeships are a springboard which equips newcomers with academic and practical learning, that must be evidenced in order to achieve. Within the Powered Pedestrian Door (PPD) industry, ADSA has led the way by creating the PPD Technician Apprenticeship which has seen four cohorts launch their careers through South Staffordshire College, with South Eastern Regional College, in Northern Ireland, soon to welcome another. Any negativity around ‘competence’ must now make way for the positive progression it generates as it paves the way for ever higher standards. www.adsa.org.uk Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 13 THE door industry journal winter 2022 Industry News
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mzg2Nzk=