The Garage 281

TRAINING and development
is centred on
improving staff skills
and knowledge to
make a business more
profitable. Without it, the education
process of sharpening
skills, changing of attitude
and knowledge enhancement
for employees would be more
difficult.
Garages need to keep on top
of training, be aware of the
training that’s available and
understand how it benefits
that garage.
The Garage has spoken
with Stuart James, Director
of the IGA (Independent Garage
Association) to gain his
thoughts on this vital subject.
He explained that the priority
of the organisation is
to change perceptions of the
industry and raise awareness
of the opportunities in the
sector, and he feels training is
paramount to this.
Stuart presides over two
brand-new state of the art
training centres based in
Southam and Runcorn, which
both offer top quality training
and facilities in first-class surroundings.
He explained how things began
in 2016, when the DVSA
and the RMI started work on a
three-week pilot programme
to change the way that MoT
testers were trained. The RMI
worked alongside awarding
bodies to develop the qualifications,
which created a
professional standard for the
industry.
To date, the academy
has grown from strength to
strength, offering a wide variety
of courses including MoT
Tester Training for all classes
and MoT Centre Management
amongst others, delivered
with expert knowledge
and enthusiasm by dedicated
academy staff.
NEWS 08
TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT AND APPRENTICESHIPS
DON’T BE LEFT IN THE DARK
One such area that Stuart
believes needs to have focus is
in the Hybrid/Electric vehicle
sector. Stuart spoke plainly
about the issues that independent
garages suffered as
little as five years ago, where
businesses would turn away
hybrid cars for general work
such as brakes.
The RMI were acutely aware
of this and developed a Hybrid/Electric
Vehicle Awareness
and Safety course, an
on-site project that lasts for
an afternoon: It is designed
for technicians and apprentices
who have little or no experience
of hybrid cars. The
course covers the main dangers
associated with dealing
with high voltages, enabling
technicians to work on them
safely. Garages were very receptive
to the idea that they
could receive training by
high qualified instructors,
while remaining within their
own working environment.
To date, the RMI has delivered
more than 5000 of these
courses making it one of the
highest demanded courses
provided.
The great success of this
enabled Stuart and his team
to develop a further course for
level 3 qualified technicians
and above. The course is entitled
Hybrid/Electric Vehicle
Repair Level 3. This is a three
day course which covers the
latest hybrid and electric generation
technology and gives
technicians an understanding
of how the vehicle functions
operate. There are also plans
in place for a level 2 hybrid
course to be offered.
Your chosen course can be
booked by calling the friendly
RMI team. All courses come
complete with joining instructions
and a detailed synopsis
and structure of the time
spent at the academy. It is important
that course eligibility
is read on the website before
you apply.
Stuart went on to discuss
other new technologies independent
garages will come
into contact with as the next
generation of vehicle hits the
independent sector. It’s certainly
not uncommon for independent
garages to operate
a local recovery service for its
customers or have an agreement
with a recovery operator
in the area, and pointed out a
particular problem that could
arise if there is a call out for
a hybrid/electric car. Stuart
commented that it wouldn’t
be beyond the realms of possibility
that in certain circumstances
a recovery operator
could be called out to a broken-down
hybrid but not now
how to safely immobilise it
before recovery.
Stuart keenly describes
himself as a spanner man,
being an apprentice technician
who has worked across a
variety of areas in the industry
for 35 years. Listening to him,
it’s hard not get enraptured by
his enthusiasm for the industry
and his desire to share the
journey that he and his team
are on, fighting to support
independent garages with all
challenges that they face.
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8 News.indd 1 28/08/2018 09:14