ECA director of CSR, Paul Reeve.
The risk of further residential fire tragedies, following the fatal Grenfell Tower fire in West London, has been raised by the ECA. In the aftermath of the Grenfell fire several inquiries have concluded that installer competency is fundamental to public safety. This is particularly the case in buildings such as residential tower blocks, care homes and hospitals.
However, within the electrotechnical industry, many individuals are claiming to be competent electricians despite having trained, in some cases, for only a matter of weeks.
Commenting on the ECA response, ECA director of CSR, Paul Reeve, said: “This week’s publication of the inquiry findings into the Grenfell tragedy underline the urgency and vital importance of ensuring that everyone who works in and on buildings, where there are vulnerable residents, must be sufficiently competent.
“We should all remember we are talking about ensuring residential fire safety. It’s time to stop messing around with low levels of electrical and fire safety competency, and in particular it’s high time to say a final goodbye to so-called ‘five-week wonders’ - wrongly regarded by some as competent to design and install electrical work in residential and similar premises.
“ECA has mapped a way forward for our sector in our response; we need to avoid settling for lower competencies, which risks another major fire tragedy in the UK.”
‘Raising the Bar’ was prepared by the Steering Group on Competence for ‘Building a Safety Future’. Within its response, ECA supports five recommendations regarding the competence of installers:
- There should be accredited third-party certification of all enterprises.
- All individuals must have Level two or three Ofqual-regulated and competence-based qualifications. ECA strongly advocates technical apprenticeships for new entrants.
- The electrotechnical sector should use the Electrotechnical Certification card Scheme (ECS)
- CPD should ensure workers are up-to-date with the latest regulations and other developments.
- All installers should have core, relevant knowledge of fire safety in buildings, with standardised and mandatory training.
The ‘Raising the Bar’ consultation follows the Dame Judith Hackitt Review into the Grenfell Tower fire that was published May 17 2018.