Jump to content

Training Courses


IRW

Recommended Posts

Hi Folks,

 

Being one of those folks who has fallen through all of the SEISS cracks going, I've been having to be a little careful recently with regards to unnecessary spending. Finally, this week, just as it looks like business will be picking up again soon, I find myself in receipt of a Liverpool City Region local business support grant- the catch is though, that money received via this grant has to go towards the business, so I'm now planning on using some of my remaining upcoming 'quiet' time to get a couple of tickets that I've been thinking about for a while, but thus far have never seemed to have the time & funds in the right place at the right time to look into.

 

Number one on my list is an official 'something' to demonstrate my competence dry.gif with regards to PAT/ISITEE- This is something I've been doing in venues since day one out of university (where we were taught the basics), but I've not got a specific piece of paper to say so. Can anyone recommend a decent course that (a) Will have an instructor who I won't end up correcting/questioning, & who appreciates my theatre experience and (b) May carry some clout outside of the theatre industry. Looking around, the C&G 2377-77 would seem to be something sensible- I suppose the ideal for me would be for it to be carried out by/on behalf of one of our normal suppliers. Although I'm in Liverpool, I'm happy to travel a bit in the interests of not experiencing the death-by-powerpoint/just press the green button/cut the plug off if it fails experience. Looking over the course content, I could literally probably teach the course to the class myself (I pretty much did with for my maintenance teams at a previous higher-education venue I worked in), so that's where the bar is set...!

 

The second thing I am considering is something in the 7909 awareness field. Now this isn't something that's cropped up for me personally to date, but do we think it's only a matter of time before, as a touring LX #1 &/or production electrician, it would be beneficial for me to have, from an employability point of view? If the answer is yes, do we have any recommendations for somewhere to do it? I noticed an older post on here recommended James Eade, and they do have some courses coming up, under the title of "City & Guilds Assured Programme in The Application of BS 7909 to Temporary Power Systems (3 days)", but it's not cheap...!

 

Thirdly, and this has cropped up while looking into the above, what are the general thoughts on the Event Safety Passport these days...? I can't say I've ever worked on or applied for anything which has asked for or required it. Is it one of those things that an office-bod looking through my CV will see and be impressed, but a savvy PM/TM won't really take much notice of, when it's up against the rest of my experience?

 

Thanks,

Ian

Edited by IRW
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7909 training is much more regularly touted at local lighting companies these days. This is presumably because they are looking to fill places while training staff, plus provide a service for their freelancers. If it looks like the course is provided by Eade or any from the Eade lineage (such as Lamp and Pencil noted above) and has the C&G at the end of it, then it is the best out there at the moment. Didn't notice it being particularly expensive compared to other training/accreditation when I did it.

 

The thing with any of these courses is that they provide what is possible in the classroom in 3-4 days and that's it. This means that they are good for awareness for the uninitiated, and clarification for those with experience with perhaps some new skills/ideas for the learner depending on their existing knowledge. But they aren't a magic bullet, so it comes down to what the cert demonstrates and to whom. We don't yet seem to be at a point where someone with a cert = YES, and someone with just experience = NO. I guess it comes down to value for the individual regarding who/where they plan to work.

 

My Event Safety Passport ran out years ago. I did it back in the day when as a full time freelancer I had tickets to waft around, most all long since expired. Not heard much about it more recently. Anyone that has spent any time with an employer should really have enough H&S training but I guess there is an argument for learning in the specific context. As you say, a decent PM/TM is looking for other things than piece of plastic with your mugshot on it. However some environments, particularly large scale events, have a blanket policy regarding such things.

Edited by indyld
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found 7909 to be somewhat lacking in depth; but at least one person dropped off the course because they found it too tough. Certainly, I went off to do further electrical qualifications (2391-52) to augment the learning. I would personally be wary of taking someone on who has 7909 and no other electrical experience.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.