Sparksafe Ltp

---

It is with great pride I am now able to use the licence as an Assessed Qualified Electrician via SparkSafe and the licence to practice system. This means I have had my my background of both qualifications and working history checked and verified by a 3rd party. Also that I have undergone a technical assessment of my skills via NAPIT within the last 12 months (many other times prior to that!)

It is important to myself that I try to demonstrate in the best possible way my competency to both clients and other workers around me. As an employer I ensure my staff are correctly trained, qualified and able to carryout the specific tasks related to that role. As electricians that means an NVQ and appropriate training and qualifications such as the wiring regulations (2382) and test/inspection (2391).

Likewise I also support and encourage membership of the JIB holding a gold card myself. 

The key aims of SparkSafe fit very closely with my own:-

1. Rewarding the competent, skilled and qualified electrical worker
2. Improving quality and raising standards through technical competence
3. Modernising and reforming the electrical contracting industry
4. Incentivising apprenticeship training and adult worker upskilling

As an industry we have a huge responsibility and task over the coming years to adequately train and create competent electrical workers. The influx of short course training has created an issue within the industry partly in response to the many extra roles created. It is good to see large National bodies now accepting this is a problem such as SparkSafe and the ECA.

I see the SparkSafe LtP as a great way to show competence and am very proud to be among the very first to be awarded the AQE licence in the UK. Derek Thompson from SparkSafe was very clear in explaining how this can help demonstrate to clients and others in the wider industry my key commitment to verifying my own competency.

NAPIT are actively supporting the LtP and it was via a recent article regarding this support that led me to make the application. I must thank Mike Andrews personally for taking the time to explain that support and for allowing my NAPIT technical assessments to be used as part of the application.

Anyone wishing to find out more about SparkSafe can do so here  https://sparksafeltp.co.uk/ 

Below is some of the key text taken from the SparkSafe website regarding registering as an electrical worker. 

"Being recognised as a competent, skilled and qualified Electrical Worker before employers, Clients and industry peers is at the core of the online electrical Licence to Practise system.  Electrical Licence to Practise is about connecting the competencies of Licenced Electrical Workers with Contracts.

The online system requires Electrical Workers to register for one of three Licence types. These are QE (Qualified Electrician), REW (Restricted Electrical Worker) or AE (Apprentice Electrician).

Unqualified and underqualified workers have entered the supply chain via false self-employment routes and on the back of short form courses and unassessed skills.  In many cases, this has blurred the lines between fully qualified and semi qualified workers right through to the low end of the cowboy spectrum.  The online system will be used by Clients to verify the composition of the Electrical Contractor’s direct and indirect workforce by Licence type. This means that Licenced Electrical Workers will become much more valuable to employers and Clients.

Electrical Licence to Practise sets out to re-establish the identity and value of the industry’s best asset – the Electrical Worker.  A preoccupation with H&S accreditation has diminished the place of the vocational credentials and identity of Electrical Workers in the contemporary industry".

Here is hoping many more join me in supporting the LtP and AQE! Thanks for reading and best wishes Mark Allison.