Hire and Rental News - February 2016

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24 ACCESS IN ACTION • FEBRUARY 2016
What was, what is and what will be
Training Director's message
As trainers there is great value in building and maintaining your
professionalism not only for that competitive edge or the respect of
your peers but also to enhance the learner’s learning experience.
ACCESS in ACTION
The past year was a busy one with
a number of changes from a training
perspective and it is pertinent to revisit
these changes to see where our industry
has come from and how we are moving
forward into a safer working future.
In 2015 the EWPA initiated the rewrite
of the Yellow Card training program;
creating V2 of the Yellow Card since its
release in 2013. This rewrite included
a substantial change to the way the
assessment was carried out and was
driven by the Unit of Competence (UoC).
This rewrite was timely, mainly because
regulators were asking for additional
information to be included in the training
package.
The EWPA also started work on its ‘Train
the Trainer’ course to include the skills
and knowledge the EWPA wanted its
trainers to know and then pass along to
students.
This ‘Train the Trainer’ program was
released in September last year and has
so far been a great success. It has given
us, as an industry, a tool to successfully
and effectively measure the competence
of new trainers. We also addressed issues
like the use of stabilisers on scissors on
slopes; the issue of overhead crush; and
working at height over water. All of these
issues have now also been included in
our training program.
Our new focus, starting this year, will
be on creating a VoC (Verification of
Competence) tool and we will be adding
additional modules to the Yellow Card
training package, including Supervise
EWPs in the workplace; and Rescue.
The Yellow Card this year will also
be expanded to include a Superboom
training module, in line with the
increasing popularity and use of these big
pieces of equipment. We’re also looking
at bringing in a point score for Personal
Development. Most professions now have
to demonstrate ongoing professional
development, including engagement,
and the access industry, through the
updated Yellow Card Training package,
will soon be in line with this professional
development accountability.
It is anticipated trainers will be able
to attain points through training or
education courses they do; industry
meetings they attend and work they do
in the industry. These points will then
be recognsied as part of their ongoing
industry training and professional
development.
Last year we saw several access industry
workplace deaths, including one in
December. These deaths drive home
the importance of training. Even though
we are continually working to improve
our training standards, it is also about
the quality of the training our industry
receives. For the EWPA, our ‘Train the
Trainer’ program becomes even more
vital.
Certainly fatalities ensure we as an
industry reflect on the consequences of
lack of training but more so, on what we
as an industry are trying to achieve. And
that, of course, is zero fatalities in our
industry.
Phil Middleton
EWPA Training Director
TomTom Telematics Webfleet service
has cut fuel costs, labour costs and traffic
incidences; and boosted productivity,
customer experience and business
efficiencies.
Traffex, traffic management service
providers, dedicated to the construction
industry, cut fuel bills by 50%.
“We originally thought we’d receive
a small cost saving through more
economical driving. We gained more
value than expected and the savings
paid for the implementation itself,” Carly
Fehring, General Manager at Traffex said.
Priority Plus Plumbing cut overtime costs
and provided a better customer service.
“We’ve been able to reduce overtime
payments by 6% across our business,
through improved efficiencies. We’ve
also been able to enhance our customer
Telematics cuts business’s costs and improves returns
service levels by providing customers
with a reliable estimated time of arrival
for our plumbers, as well as informing
them of any delays. This has also saved
time and money, by reducing the number
of calls to technicians on the road, as well
as improving efficiencies in dispatching
jobs,” Peter Honey, Managing Director of
Priority Plus Plumbing said.
The businesses have implemented the
TomTom Telematics Webfleet service,
designed to improve vehicle performance,
save fuel, support drivers and increase
overall fleet efficiency. The service is
available to small, medium and large
fleets; and is retro fitted into vehicles as
part of their regular service schedule.
“Whether you have a fleet of five or
5,000, businesses can optimise efficiency,
improve productivity and reduce costs
across the business by taking advantage
of the latest telematics technology. Costs,
productivity and driving behaviour can
and should be understood, so businesses
can turn their fleets from a cost centre to
a profit generator,” Christopher Chisman-
Duffy, Managing Director of TomTom
Telematics said.
TomTom Telematics is a Business Unit of
TomTom dedicated to fleet management,
vehicle telematics and connected
car services. The Webfleet platform
is a Software-as-a-Service solution,
used by small to large businesses to
improve vehicle performance, save fuel,
support drivers and increase overall
fleet efficiency. TomTom Telematics also
provides services for the insurance, rental
and leasing industries, car importers and
companies that address businesses as
well as consumers.
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