Trade Association MD warns of importance of competence in electrical work – Scottish Business News

In the wake of the Grenfell Inquiry’s call for a shake-up of the construction industry, the MD of Scotland’s largest construction trade association has underscored the importance of regulation of electricians. Speaking on The Clive Holland Show on Fix Radio, Alan Wilson of Select said that it was “so important” for consumers to know that they could  trust electricians who carry out work in their homes or businesses.

His comments followed the many recommendations in the damning Grenfell report, including inquiry chair Sir Martin Moore-Bick saying the sector should appoint a construction regulator to oversee all aspects of the industry.

Alan agreed that such a suggestion underlines the urgent need for regulation of the electrical industry, for which SELECT has been tirelessly campaigning for over the past ten years.

Speaking on the national DAB station, he said: “In our sector there is already a measure of self-regulation, in that there are different bodies which oversee electricians, but there is no legal requirement to be registered which is why we have taken up the cudgels on the issue, particularly over the past six or seven years.

“Protection of title means that if you call yourself something, such as a teacher or a nurse or a doctor, then you have to have the qualifications and experience to show that you are entitled to call yourself that. 

“You wouldn’t want anyone teaching your children or your grandchildren if they weren’t qualified, nor would you want anyone treating you in hospital as a nurse or a doctor unless they were suitably qualified.”

In the special episode – entitled Should Trades Have Protected Status? – Alan went on: “What we are aiming at is to regulate the profession to make sure that, if you have gone through your training and you have done your other qualifications – what we call our experienced worker route – then you can call yourself a legitimate electrician. 

“And that’s really the key to this; to make sure that people get work done properly. From my perspective, I think it’s really important that we have the proper people installing electrical products.”

Asked what achieving professional status would look like, Alan said it would be similar in some ways to the Gas Safe Register, where workers wear identification lanyards.

He said: “Because we are going through the Scottish Parliament to achieve this and consumer status is protected in terms of UK legislation, we can’t get business registration; that is not feasible. But what we can do is aim for individual regulation, and that would mean the Scottish Government holding a register of electricians who are qualified to do work.

“So the workforce would have a badge and the customer would have the opportunity to check them out online. And that is so important.”

The campaign for protection of title for the profession of electrician has been pursued over the course of many years by SELECT in partnership with the Scottish Joint Industry Board(SJIB), the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) and Unite the Union.

The campaign aims to make it a statutory offence for someone to call themselves an electrician when they have no, or inadequate, qualifications, and to make sure that those who work in the industry do so in a safe and competent manner.

SELECT now runs a Wall of Support for backers to add their voice to the cause, with recent additions