NASC and CISRS participate in European Scaffolding Trade body meeting in Sweden
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NASC CEO Robin James and Dave Mosley, NASC Training Director and CISRS MD, have recently returned from a UEG meeting (Union Europaischer Gerustbaubetriebe) in Stockholm, after participating in a two-day event focusing on scaffolding training standards across Europe on 30/31 May.
Hosted by the Swedish Federation (STIB), delegates from UEG membership organizations in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland participated, and were joined by the potential UEG member Turkey.
The delegates included industry association staff, scaffolding contractors, hiring, sales and manufacturers / suppliers, training providers, members of the CEN / BSI Committee and other scaffolding industry experts.
Training and qualifications for scaffolding vary enormously between UEG’s representative national organizations. It is accepted by UEG that the goal of setting a minimum standard for competence throughout Europe is a significant project to implement. However, those present in Sweden and those who attended the previous meeting considered that this was an admirable goal to strive to achieve, which will ultimately contribute to raising the standard and improving security in participating countries across Europe.
The initial focus will be on scaffolding inspection and a small working group has been appointed to look at existing programs, take into account international and national legislation, types of products and equipment used, course admission criteria, training providers’ requirements, etc.
and Dave Mosley “This project is about sharing best practices. All countries must comply with international rules and directives, but there is a big difference between how strictly these are applied and how individual countries or sectors conclude competence when it comes to position inspection.
“Several UEG members have existing programs in place. If we can use these to help us set a minimum standard that all members can work towards, it will have a huge positive effect.”
Robin James added “The UK plays a prominent role in the UEGs, and cooperation with our European partners has proven beneficial to the UK scaffolding industry over the years. NASC is widely respected for the quality and range of its scoping guidance, and CISRS is considered the benchmark for industry-wide training across Europe.” .
The 2-day event ended with a guided tour around the Training Center and Safety Parc just outside Arlanda Airport in Stockholm.