Don’t take the risk: know training
With improving skills being vital to the lifting industry, the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association continues to evolve its member led, global training. Available via a variety of channels and validated by the exclusive TEAM card, it will improve the bottom line as well as safe practice, as Andrew Wright, Head of Learning and Development at LEEA, explains.
Through creating sustained expertise, training allows LEEA members to add enormous value to their customers, in addition to assiduously adhering to best practice and quality in their field to support supply chains throughout industry. The benefit will show up on the bottom line but, more importantly for the Lifting Industry, training nurtures best practice when it comes to working in safety.
With a range of training courses on the inspection and examination of lifting equipment, LEEA’s unique training offer keeps evolving to ensure that it is more engaging and occupationally relevant so that trained workers contribute to their organisational challenges and improve safety. The Association is working with partners to help deliver our training globally and raise competency in all countries through our Licensed Training Scheme. The aspiration is that LEEA produces content which our third party trainers will be delivering, increasing capacity in our training network.
This benefits everyone who uses LEEA training because they get it sooner, the training reflects regional variations and they don’t have to travel as far. It’s more effective and more efficient and it frees us up here at HQ to concentrate on delivering better quality training materials and adding new courses to our catalogue. The scheme has been piloted in Australia and New Zealand, which has produced great learning outcomes. The next step is to take it to the Middle East.
LEEA’s purpose-built training centre offers comfortable classrooms, a workshop and break out areas. Facilities also include modular practical areas for the courses offered, which include: Foundation Certificate (FOU), Lifting Accessories (LAC), Manual Lifting Machines (MLM), Powered Lifting Machines (PLM), Bridge and Gantry Cranes (BGC), Supporting Structures (SUP), Mobile Cranes (MOB) and Offshore Containers (OSC). Each LEEA training course incorporates an assessment to verify the trainee has retained key knowledge and skills studied during the course.
Training courses on LEEA’s Academy 2 platform are available online through our eLearning portal, face to face at Huntingdon or on site, and by virtual classroom (webinar) using the state-of-the-art technology we invested in during 2020. This provides a learning offering that is accessible anywhere a student has an Internet connection and a web browser.
LEEA was an early embracer of the new world of digital training, which has enhanced the way we have to do things for our membership. There is a genuine choice of training delivery channel that suits their priorities, making it easier for more people to go through training. Increasing the variety of courses and languages is a further important means for encouraging training.
Most of LEEA’s suite of training courses are available in languages other than English: Bahasa, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, French and Spanish, and we continue to develop other languages to meet the needs of our global membership.
‘End User Guidance’ and ‘Introduction to Lifting Equipment’ are new courses introduced to provide our members and industry stakeholders with specific, underpinning information supporting their continuous professional development.
New qualifications will be added digitally to the TEAM card. The all-new, grey colour-scheme TEAM card, which incorporates NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, makes it easier for members to present their qualifications: a tap against any smart phone will instantly provide verified, live data which is instantly updated by the LEEA team as changes occur. These might include new validation dates, change of employment details, a new photograph and when new qualifications are achieved. The TEAM Card is accredited by CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) and its logo, in hologram form, is shown on the card. We support continual professional development (CPD) with our refresher training courses, which #LEEA TEAM card holders are required to take every three years.
Continuing our training evolution
Having continually listened to members’ feedback and their business needs for competent workers after rolling out Academy 2 in 2021, LEEA’s training continues to evolve, with work commencing on our new ‘Academy 3’ curriculum and training course design.
In the Academy 3 Foundation Certificate, our knowledge, skills and behaviours focus on ethical actions that support our vision by promoting the importance of these factors, and the consequences of their omission. It supports LEEA’s vision of a lifting industry with zero accidents, zero injuries, and zero fatalities. It is estimated that over 90% of all accidents are resultant of human error, with the major contributors being carelessness, ignorance and incompetence.
The Foundation Certificate covers three areas with the first being Safety to ensure trainees can look after themselves, follow their training and speak up when necessary. Competence is the second area and is all about knowing what you can do, what you cannot do and keeping yourself up to date. Third is Professionalism, which includes diligence, leading by example and communication. Outcomes for each new module of learning will feature these ethical behaviours in addition to the knowledge and skills from the key learning points.
To further drive development of our training, we are surveying our members and other stakeholders. It is of utmost importance that our training suite meets the changing needs of our membership and LEEA’s extended footprint.
We believe that a flexible approach to learner assessment is important to our students, enhancing their learning experience and supporting the development of well-rounded, capable and competent lifting equipment professionals of the future. We will be working hard to ensure that we have a valid, fair and reliable assessment system, which will encourage learner participation, not expose them to the fear and anxiety of an exam. Our goal is to assess what students can do, instead of what they can remember, keeping them engaged and taking ownership of their learning.
Our members will continue to be supported by a LEEA Academy that is tailored to their needs, flexible in its learning modes and readily accessible. LEEA also continues to support the Lifting Equipment Technician apprenticeship and our military service leavers and veterans, providing employment and learning pathways for these talented individuals and skilled employees for our members.
For the Lifting Industry to continue growing successfully it needs a sustained supply of skills – and the right kind of skills. As the industry innovates and moves forward, improvements to practices through investment in technology and new techniques demand appropriate training.
Training is a culture that should spread and one that LEEA will continue to encourage. We are confident that it plays an essential role in improving the excellence, productivity and safe practices of our members. Don’t take the risk, know training – because it works.
