A single skills card would offer big benefits

One such example is the F-Gas Regulation individual certification that requires anyone working with fluorinated refrigerants to hold a specialist qualification.

It also places a legal obligation on anyone employing companies or individuals to carry out this work to ensure that the operatives hold the right qualifications.

Keeping up with legal requirements and emerging technologies while ensuring all installers hold the necessary qualifications is a challenge for suppliers of HVAC products and services.

It is also a potential source of confusion for equipment owners or service and maintenance contractors who need to know their contracted technicians are suitably qualified and not breaking the law.

So, how do busy employers keep track of the qualifications a technician possesses? What about the technician’s health and safety training, so crucial to ensuring compliance with regulations?

Where training leads to recognised qualifications, a single, wallet-sized skill card that encompasses all the individual’s qualifications and experience could solve the timely problem.

For operatives, the card would provide a quick and affordable way of proving to employers their level of training and competency and that they have the required health and safety knowledge and practice.

For employers, the workforce’s possession of such a card would confirm the company’s professionalism and commitment to high standards.

For equipment owners and operators, a single card would guarantee the installer’s or technician’s reliability, experience and qualifications. All without the need for time-consuming or inconvenient verifications on site.

The industry has already expressed a desire for a single, industry-wide skillcard incorporating a range of qualifications:

• The F-Gas mandatory qualifications - C&G2079 pt1, 2, 3 or 4, or CITB (Construction Skills) J11, 12, 13 or 14;
• CITB (ConstructionSkills) J11, 12, 13 or 14;
• City & Guilds CPD in Carbon Dioxide refrigeration (when available);
• City & Guilds CPD in Hydrocarbon refrigeration (when available);
• City & Guilds or CITB ConstructionSkills certificate in Ammonia Refrigeration;
• BRA/CITB Brazing certificate;
• CITB Essential Electrics;
• CITB Refrigeration Electrics;
• REAL Zero Full CPD completion certificate.

One employer realising the benefits of a single, reliable and universally accepted skillcard scheme is Carter Synergy compliance director Paul Mills.

“Each year our company completes pre-qualification tender administration and health and safety accreditation paperwork, which demands details of our employees’ skills and health and safety knowledge,” he says.

“For our engineers, a reliable skillcard is a passport to access clients’ premises and sites without the need for completing additional administration and health and safety inductions. This saves us valuable time, as our workers complete jobs more efficiently.”

Miriam Rodway is ACRIB secretary for ACRIB SKILLcard