The Fire Industry Association (FIA) has released a mini documentary video on its YouTube channel and website called ‘The need for qualified fire alarm technicians explained in 9 minutes’.
The video explores the skills gap within the fire detection and alarm sector and the reasons behind it, talking to a range of industry experts from across the UK. There are insightful commentaries from recruiters and managing directors of various fire detection and alarm installation and maintenance companies – each with their own unique viewpoint on the need for a formal qualification in order to close the skills gap.
Brett Ennals, Managing Director of Cento (the featured recruitment agency) quips about the ‘well-documented skills gap’, whilst John Battersby, MD of Sunfish looks straight in the camera and tells us exactly how it is: recruiting new staff is hard.
And whilst all these faces have their own stories to tell, this powerful documentary shows images of the reasons why a qualification is necessary – photos of detectors stuck carelessly in corners, and one even on a loft hatch.
There are also appearances from FIA Chairman Martin Harvey and CEO Ian Moore, who offer information about the services standard, EN 16763, which specifies the level of education that is required to be able to work in the fire safety services sector.
Qualifications in the fire detection and alarm sector don’t currently exist, and there is a lot of asking ‘What if?’ – but it gives us valuable insight into the sector and the very real, and very urgent need for a qualification from a range of real people within the industry.
In addition, the FIA uses the video to state that they will be making some kind of big announcement on the subject on May 2nd.
Watch the video here
