SHOP TALK
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• In this month's Workshop we get an insight into the problems facing the maintenance industry. Over the past few years pundits have voiced concern over maintenance standards in the industry following the creation of the Single European Market. They question whether "we will improve to meet the continentals maintenance standards or will they come down to ours.'
In Germany, for example the job title mechanician implies a qualified person; a certificate is needed to work on commercial vehicle brakes. Work conditions are generally better than in the UK and CV fitters are paid about 25% more than their counterparts working on cars. But the Germans still find it difficult to attract the calibre of school leavers needed to repair tomorrow's high-tech trucks.
At least in Germany a mechanician has a higher status than a UK fitter or technician. In the interest of safety, the UK should take a leaf out of the Germans book and make it mandatory for those working on commercial vehicle brakes to be trained and certificated.
I can almost hear the howls now. Why do we need this? And what about the cost? The first criticism is easy to answer. Brakes are becoming more complicated, and we must not wait for a bus queue to be mown down before we act. As to the cost, if workshop managers do not invest in pers(nnel the personnel will find an employer who will.