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0 ur German allies may not be famous for their 0 ur German allies may not be famous for their stand-up comics. They're not renowned For their fashion sense. But when it comes to vehicle engineering they don't mess about. Take the maintenance of commercial vehicles, for example. In Germany it isn't left to any old Thom, Dieter or Helmut. In Germany, if you're planning to service a safety-critical item like brakes you'd better be a nationally certified mechanic, or work under the strict supervision of someone who is. This system of accreditation is overseen by the German equivalent of the Vehicle Inspectorate, with certification training courses often run by the relevant component manufacturers. It clearly makes sense that anyone working on a safetycritical system should know what they're doing. It also makes sense that those skills are certificated, and the Germans aren't the only ones to support formal skills registration. Last week 1RTE council chairman Eddie Farley called for: "a more positive recognition of these {engineering) skills, through either the DOT or industry, regulating the attainments and certificating them, so that the public at large know that those involved with the maintenance of commercial vehicles have the requisite skills to deal with the complex products now emerging from European factories". CM agrees, because traditional skill with hand tools is no longer enough: you can't diagnose ABS faults with a blunt screwdriver. So what's stopping us adopting formal skill certification? As far as the IRTE is concerned, not much. Many of the institute's members already think that road transport engineers should be registered in order to demonstrate their competence; it would be but a short step to adopting a similar scheme for the people who work under them. But before that happens Farley warns that we need to remove a "mental block to this need to recognise maintenance standards". Certificating truck mechanics won't come cheap— skills training never does—but the benefits to the industry would be immense. No doubt some element of grandfather's rights would be involved; Farley suggests that
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1905-1995 VslitiSARY National Vocational Qualifications could be the way to go and once again, CM agrees with him. Whatever approach is adopted, the argument for skills certification is overwhelming. You wouldn't let an odd-job man service a Jumbo jet; would you really want him working on your truck?