The Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) has developed two of its one-day plumbing courses, normally delivered in person to small groups, for online delivery using webinar software.
From this month, following a successful trial period, plumbers will be able to sit APHC’s Legionella Cold Water Risk Assessment & Disinfection Course and the Sanitary & Above Ground Drainage Course remotely via a desktop or laptop computer with either a built-in or externally fitted camera.
The courses are run by APHC’s Technical Services Manager, Graeme Dryden, who commented: “The current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is making us rethink how we can do things in a COVID secure manner, and although we could continue to run our training courses at our training facility in the West Midlands by following Government guidelines, we decided to trial online delivery as this would be a far safer delivery method.
“To maximise the effectiveness of how we deliver each course, we decided to run the courses over five days in two-hour segments. This has the added advantage for installers of not having to take a whole day off from trading as appointments can be scheduled around the two-hour time slots.”
Both courses can be booked via a digital booking form and the training materials are delivered electronically and can either be printed off at home or viewed on a second computer screen or via a tablet. The end assessment is carried out using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website.
APHC’s Sanitary and Above Ground Drainage course is aimed at practising installers to update their knowledge on the design and installation of above ground sanitary and rainwater systems to meet current Building Regulations. The course also looks at the purpose and use of the various components including macerators and waste disposal.
The Cold Water Risk Assessment and Disinfection course aims to train installers on how to design and maintain water systems to minimise the risks of Legionella bacteria growth and Legionnaires’ Disease. It looks at how to safely disinfect a water system and perform a risk assessment associated with cold and hot water systems.
Graeme concluded by saying: “It’s vital that plumbers invest in training in order to acquire new skills, enhance existing ones and to keep up-to-date with legislation, technology and commercial opportunities. For example, when the trading restrictions on restaurants, pubs, sports facilities and other business establishments are lifted, I can foresee an increase in demand for plumbers who are able to implement risk assessments, advise on precautionary measures and implement remedial work on water systems relating to Legionella.”
Contact APHC for course delivery dates or to discuss the course requirements in more detail.
