Spreading best practice through Accredited Training
Ross Moloney, CEO of LEEA, on the importance of training and the benefits of the Association's Accredited Training Scheme.
Labour and skills shortages are leading to an evolution in attitudes towards training. In the past employers might hire from abroad, they may even recruit trained staff from competitors or their own supply chain. But, of course, they can also train up people themselves.
While it is all too easy to ask: ‘why train if no-one else in the sector does?’, the more pertinent question to address is: ‘can you afford not to train?’ Effective training is an economic necessity because companies risk losing business opportunities if they can’t find the skilled staff they need.
Growth in the Lifting Industry relies in large part on there being a supply of skills – and the right kind of skills. As the lifting Industry innovates and moves forward, improvements to practices, through investment in technology or simply through new techniques, demand appropriate associated training programmes. Without training the investment’s return will be reduced.
We need to look at the successes of markets where companies assume their role is to train their staff. Not only do these companies train without fear of penalty, but they also realise that the benefit of doing so is likely to make an appearance on their bottom line. Training creates sustained expertise for companies, which allows them to add enormous value to their customers, in addition to assiduously adhering to best practice.
But it is even more than this because training inevitably nurtures best practice when it comes to working in safety. So it is safe to say that training is ultimately good for business, is a culture that should spread and one that we must encourage. And we can start with our own members through LEEA’s Accredited Training Scheme (ATS), which is geared to delivering value to the members while also ensuring that end user training helps raise industry standards.
The ATS is specifically for LEEA Members who are involved in training delivery to end-user companies – for example manufacturers of lifting equipment and training organisations. It offers members the opportunity to gain accreditation for their own training courses, which cover key areas of interest to users of lifting equipment.
ATS gives the assurance of good quality training, instructors and facilities. All LEEA ATS Members are audited on their course materials, trainers and facilities to ensure quality and consistency. They adhere to the highest technical and safety standards during the build and delivery of their courses. Their trainers are appropriately qualified and experienced. Their facilities ensure students are comfortable and present a good learning environment.
Among the numerous benefits of joining the scheme, companies gain independent accreditation by a highly respected industry association, and they can use the LEEA ATS logo. They receive expert and up-to-date advice on all aspects of course design, while course materials and assessment methods will be checked to ensure accuracy, quality and suitability. They will benefit from guidance on how to meet and maintain the course accreditations as well as from protection and promotion of the interests of our ATS members on a collective basis.
Training is a big part of what LEEA does. We provide specialist training services, CPD as well as accredited training worldwide – and there is more of it than ever before. Training will continue to elevate to new levels with more courses being launched on LEEA’s Academy 2.0 platform, which provides a truly global learning offering – accessible anywhere a student has an Internet connection and a web browser and with courses available in English, Simplified Chinese, Bahasa, Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese.
We are confident that training plays an essential role in improving the excellence, productivity and safe practices of our members, and makes for a wise investment to place a company in pole position to reap the benefits of increasing market activity.
Free training sessions and presentations on topics delivered by LEEA Accredited Training Scheme members are included in the ATS Seminar featured at LiftEx 2023. For more information, visit liftex.org.
