A compulsory minimum level of vocational qualifications is unlikely to lead to improved standards in skilled professions such as plumbing, electrical engineering, and care homes, according to workplace experts Croner, the UK’s biggest provider of online information and consultancy for health & safety and employment issues.
The advice follows City & Guilds’ persistence for such industries to become licensed in order to improve standards. The training body also recommended compulsory reporting of training spend among publicly listed companies.
Croner’s view is that vocational qualifications are not a full indication of employees’ or contactors’ abilities as they do not take into account experience and aptitude for the job, and are therefore not sufficient to ‘guarantee’ a standard of workmanship. On-the-job training and industry experience, as well as structured training programmes, are essential to ensure work is carried out as safely and professionally as possible.
Nasar Farooq, health and safety technical manager at Croner, says: “We hear scare-stories of industry ‘cowboys’, for example on programmes such as ‘Watchdog’, but the fact is that these are the exception, rather than the rule. Most sectors are already regulated adequately by, for example, Corgi, the watchdog for gas safety, and employers are generally well aware of their obligations under health and safety law to employ competent persons, whether as employees or contractors.
“While we support training and education, it is unrealistic to equate an imposed minimum level of vocational qualifications to improve industry standards. There is no failsafe approach and employers should encourage best practice through recruiting competent workers, complying with industry regulation and providing on the job training. Vocational training courses may also be part of their overall training programme.
“Forcing PLCs to report on training spend is a 1970’s approach and throwback to a time when companies used to spend money on ‘training’ so as to avoid a levy from industrial training boards and please shareholders – a regime which was scrapped in the 1980’s. It defeats the purpose of improving standards by encouraging employers to take a ‘tick-box’ rather than bespoke approach to training.
“Employers shouldn’t be misled that an increased quota of employees with vocational qualifications, or simply increasing training spend is the answer to improving industry standards. Our advice would be that while recognised qualifications, such as City & Guilds, can only be a good thing, they form part of a bigger picture which also includes on-the-job training and experience.”
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