Expert Installer Training for Electrical Apprentices | HESTA

It’s a position many electrical apprentices have been in, you are sat in your final apprenticeship exam, and once you’ve passed this is it, you’re done!

Your apprenticeship has culminated up to this moment, one more push and you’re qualified, no more exams! ‘I know what I’m doing because I’m a qualified electrician!’

You ride into the office the next day triumphant, feeling like there is nothing more anyone can teach you because you’ve passed your exams and you know it all now! Just then your manager calls you into the office and tells you to go out and install a D1 LD1 Smoke detection system complete with isolation relay in a sheltered housing project!

Suddenly the blood drains from your face, you get that cold clammy feeling and you’re back to being a learner again, as you ask, ‘How do I do that?’

Thankfully, colleges these days are much more aware of not only the academic elements of an apprenticeship but also the real-world experience that all new tradespeople need to learn and understand, before being sent out into the real world.

One such college is HESTA (Humber Energy Skills Training Academy) in Hull. HESTA are part of the DN Colleges Group. They provide skills and training for electrical and engineering apprentices, alongside access to building services qualifications. Centre Manager, James Atkin, recently contacted Aico to ask if there was the possibility of delivering Aico’s award-winning Expert Installer Training to his students.

Aico jumped at the chance to support the college, as we believe that education needs to be taught throughout the workforce chain, and by educating the new generation they will be better equipped to specify and install life safety products in accordance with BS5839-6 and BS 50292. The net result of this is safer homes and protection for the families that reside within them. Last year we delivered our FIA CPD accredited Expert Installer Training to over 10,000 people, all of who have an interest in maintaining or improving fire safety within domestic dwellings.

As part of the course content we discussed:

• A company overview of who Aico are and our values.
• Standards and regulations detailing the different types of systems and where they should be applied.
• System design, explaining locations to install and the reasons why.
• Alarm types, the different versions available and practical application.
• System installation, how they should be installed and interconnected.

James Atkin commented:

“Thank you to Gareth Iveson, the regional specification manager (Humberside and Lincolnshire) of Aico for coming to our centre and delivering expert installer training to our first-year electrotechnical apprentices. All learners took away useful knowledge through a blend of presentation and product demonstration, as well as given handy reference literature to support the delivery. We look forward to working with you again at Humber Energy Skills Training Academy.”

During the training session, the apprentices were all fully engaged, having site experience already they could understand and picture how the systems all fit together, and the different ways that the alarms can be connected and installed. All the apprentices were given the Aico Installers Handybook, useful for site reference, and some other leaflets and handouts to help them in their training. Aico also provided the college with training boards for the team to use in their delivery of training sessions.

The experience not only gave them the knowledge of what is involved in the fitment of life safety products, but they all also received an FIA CPD-accredited certificate that can be used as off-the-job training to help students with passing their apprenticeships.

If you are responsible for delivering apprenticeships to learners then feel free to contact your local Regional Specification Manager who will be more than happy to arrange training for your students.