Wiring regulations shake-up gives surge to trade association

By Trade body Select has seen a surge in demand thanks to changes in wiring regulations.

Scotland’s largest trade association said its dedicated training department, launched last year, had undergone a “dramatic” expansion.

Driven by the changes to wiring regulations, which came into force at the start of this year, the department has run as many courses in the first quarter of 2019 as it did for the whole of 2018.

In the first three months of 2019, Select ran 68 such courses all over the country, involving more than 800 delegates, and is planning at least another 40 for the second quarter which will bring the new regulations to a further 600 electrical professionals.

Jenny Cryans, who runs the new training department, said: “The demand from our members has been exceptional and the courses that we have been running have attracted very positive feedback.

“The changes in the regulations have been a major factor in the increase in demand but we are heavily involved in other courses as well.”

As well as the new wiring regulations courses, the department is introducing a range of short courses this month in collaboration with New College Lanarkshire to cover aspects of fire and security.

It is also working in partnership with Training Plus to deliver courses in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Training Plus specialises in core health and safety elements such as emergency first aid at work and manual handling. Future subjects are set to include working at height and asbestos awareness.

Cryans added: “Changes in technology are also driving demand in areas such as electric vehicle charging, smart controls, energy storage systems and energy efficiency in general.”

Select’s training team has also just launched the electrical site safety assessment – a new Sqa-accredited course, in conjunction with the Scottish Joint Industry Board, which is aimed at non-technical staff who may work at construction sites.

Dave Forrester, head of technical services at Select, under whose remit the new department falls, said: “The demand for services from the training department has exceeded all expectations and Jenny and her team have done a remarkable job in meeting our members’ continuing professional development needs.

“We will continue to roll out more courses over the rest of the year and we are in the early stages of developing a dedicated website, selecttraining.org, to get the message out there.”