Certificate of Competence in Chainsaw and Related Operations Review Consultation

[Marc]

Telhol the nptc units are not there to make you into an experienced and productive climber/treeworker, they are a foundation of good practice to build upon.

 

 

£650 for aerial rescue thats steep, but it depends I suppose, a new lad I worked with did a 5 day course with the 6th day being assesment. 4 on course £450 each.

It was an excellent course, I know the instructor well and he is at the top of his profession.

He taught me, I paid £400 for 4 days and 1 day assement.

 

I found it throughly usefull and worth the money. BUT I would'nt want to pay that again in 5 years time, especially as i'll be even more expreinced by then.

 

I desperatly wanted to fast track my chainsaw in the tree unit, my usuall trainer did'nt have any dates for a while, so I ended up using someone else.

Now the training was o.k, they taught me good practice, but I found my instructor being a 45 year who only started his climbing career at 40!! a little lacking in experience to pass on.

I found that on the chainsaw in a tree course it did'nt prepare you for big tree work, many of the techniques I was taught would be dangerous in real situations.

Experience and mentoring from competent climbers is the only way of becoming a safe effcient and productive climber.

 

 

Which leads me to my next point re-evaluation, should be simplified and made more cost effective. maybe a seperate evualtion unit to pick up on bad habits. Something like a workshop where you discuss good practice and pick up on workers weaknesses and then concentrate on those.

 

For exampleafter 5 years climbing you'd think most of us would of picked up how to move about a tree safely and effectivly, and each with our own style. So to take another basic tree climbing and aerial rescue course is rather pointless.

So why not make it an aerial rescue day only, a simple 1 day course that four climbers or more can do at a much reduced cost maybe something like £70.

[Jamie]

I got a leaflet through from a training provider in central Scotland. When i sat my chainsaw ticket 5 years ago it cost me around about £350 quid its now jumped up to £995. Thats a fair bit more.

 

To me an apprenticeship scheme with a test at the end is worth a lot more than a whole host of basic courses. Every newstart we get after a minute of them cutting i walk over, tap them o the shoulder and have to explain why a saw doesn't have to be screaming its tits off to cut efficiently.

 

Jamie

[Buzz]

I'd also like to see the whole scheme scraped and an apprentiship system set up. Check the company out and limit them to the no. of apprentices at any one time. Stop flooding the industry with under qualified but 'qualified' employees if that makes sense.

 

I'd much rather put out a job advert for a groundsman, assess their attitude and aptitude and then invest time and money in trainning them in house with block release for college sesions.

[madmatt]

I wish when I had left school there was an arb aprentaship, similar to the one i did in engineering. The only way into Arb when I left school was to go to college for 2 years full time. Ok it would have got me my tickets but I wouldn't have had any money. Or a great deal of experiance in the the real world.

 

I choose engineering worked a 12 week summer period from leaving school then went to college as well during term time, I lernt so much doing both.

[telhol]

I think the NPTC are just robbing us blind. They dont want apprentiships they cant charge extortionate rates then.

 

Each unit should be £250-300 max i would do every single one at that price but as it stands they only want to change it to squeeze more money from us.

 

What they forget is the ones doing the courses are mostly newbs who earn little in wages.

 

I believe a competant climber has more than enough ability to teach there groundsman since they do it day in day out.

 

Nptc more and more people wont bother using it and its clear thats whats happening there changing it because candidate numbers are at an all time low.

[Marc]

I hear ya Telhol. If I could renew my tickets at 50-70 for a days re-assement I'd do it, but that may never happen.

 

Apprenticeships are a good idea to, the company I just left took on a new lad he is the apprentice, so far he's done 4 basic units in 3 months, great apptitude. But i shudder at the cost this company is ploughing into him, and what if he leaves after a year.

 

Its very hard to get a break when your a newb, I knew i'd be good at what I do, but no one would give me a chance (so I lied) I thank people like Buzz and other giving me a chance and shoving me up trees with little to no nptc training.

 

Once I had a basic grasped I then did my units. And personally don't ever want to do them again, as in most cases I learnt little, and as pointed out in some case's given dangerous advice, not on purpose just in less than a week you can't cover all eventualities.

 

A year long apprenticeship would produce better qaulity climbers I suppose.

[telhol]

Agree with ya marc. They are to expensive we would not care about so many units if they were priced sensibly.

Instead the nptc thought how much can we rip these mugs off for.

 

I was lucky i went straight up a tree no qualifications i did not cut at first just went up with my old man an looked and learned. Then progressed into the cutting and became good because i learnt first hand all the problems that could happen did rope tangles etc.

 

You learn far better by doing why should you have to do a course before you climb what if you spend all that rediculous amount of money and then dont like the actual job.

 

Untill they offer sensible prices they will have problems no matter how much they change the courses.

[Arborist]

I was told that each student at merrist wood is worth £5000 per year to them. That's why there there so many school messing about on the courses.

[telhol]

I was told that each student at merrist wood is worth £5000 per year to them. That's why there there so many school messing about on the courses.

 

Really annoys me that they just want your money and its better for them to have you fail then they can charge you all over again

[Pete Mctree]

If the courses are so expensive then why not just go for assessment only?

 

We all complain about our prices, therefore why complain when another sector of the industry is actually trying to make money? Sorry i just don't get it