SOLAS Skills to Advance eNewsletter December 2021

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Welcome to the

Skills to Advance

eNewsletter

Issue 8, December 2021

Skills to Advance - latest news

Welcome to the last issue of the Skills to Advance newsletter for 2021. In this issue, we focus on the positive engagement by ETBs with employers to identify and meet their current and future skills needs. Despite a challenging year, the 16 ETBs continued to build collaborative relationships with businesses and adapted their ways of engaging by connecting online via webinars, social media and website activities.

Following a challenging year for everyone, we wish you all a peaceful Christmas and look forward to working with you in 2022.

An eye to the future

Ireland’s Eye Knitwear Ltd. contacted Rathmines College of Further Education (City of Dublin ETB) to assist with their staff training needs. With the support and positive engagement of Brenda O’Mara, CDETB Employer Engagement Officer, the Skills to Advance ILM Level 6 Certificate in Leadership and Management course was identified as a suitable course to match the company’s needs.

A skills audit was carried out which identified skills gaps across supervisory positions within the company. A 16-week course was designed to be delivered via Zoom twice a week for 2.5 hours beginning in September 2021. Eleven learners from a variety of areas of the business including Quality Control, HR Management, Office Administration and Location Management, participated in the course.

The Leadership and Management course includes five core modules which have been customized to company needs - Managing and Implementing Change in the Workplace, Solving Problems by Making Effective Decisions, Managing Remote Workers, Motivating People and Writing for Business. To support the employees taking the programme, an induction, two digital skills workshops and two Wellbeing and Stress Management sessions are also provided.

The Rathmines College building

Learners are finding the course engaging and are applying new business and leadership concepts to their day-to-day work environments. Speaking of his experience, Michael Burke, General Manager, commented: “I am finding the ILM Certificate in Leadership and Management quite challenging with work pressures. However, it is well worth doing as I am already applying some of it to my workplace and I can see how it will really help me and the company in the future. The tutors are fantastic and very helpful. A course definitely worth doing.”

Electrofusion welders lead

the way

Waterford Wexford ETB (WWETB), in partnership with Irish Water and Egeplast Ireland, recently announced the launch of a fully certified Polyethylene Electrofusion Welding training programme to meet the expansion of the use of this technology in the construction sector.

The Skills to Advance course provides experienced welders with the hands-on skills to use Electrofusion welding equipment to join polyethylene pipes safely on potable water and wastewater mains systems using techniques to IS EN13067:2020 standard. Learners can earn up to 34 CPD points through Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI), which registers competent builders, contractors and tradespeople to carry out construction works.

Electrofusion welding is beneficial because it ensures a strong joint, minimisation of welding and cooling time and it does not require the operator to use dangerous equipment.

Feedback from learners has been extremely positive, with Eoghan saying: “The course was enjoyable, interesting and very beneficial to my job. My company is currently looking at growing in this area of the industry and this course has given me the skills to help me advance.”

Another learner, Andy, noted: “The course is run very professionally and is intense and informative. It covers many areas of fusion welding which will give me the confidence when I’m out on my own. I would highly recommend this course.”

WWETB’s CE Kevin Lewis said: “As an upskilling and reskilling opportunity this course supports the national skills agenda and WWETB continues to work closely with industry to identify skills gaps and provide targeted training solutions”. Fergus Collins, Head of Capital Services at Irish Water said, “Irish Water was delighted to work with WWETB on the development of the course material and in doing so help raise the knowledge, standards and expertise within the supply chain on our technical requirements in this area.”

While the need for traditional welding will continue, emerging trends in welding processes are leading to an increase in demand for upskilling opportunities, which WWETB and other ETBs are addressing.

John Cassidy, Area Training Manager (WWETB)and Fergus Collins, Head of Capital Services (Irish Water) with the banner for Polyethylene Electro Fusion welding

Pictured from L to R are: Fergus Collins, Head of Capital Services (Irish Water) and John Cassidy, Area Training Manager (WWETB)

MSLETB's positive engagement

with employers

Data Protection training was one of the innovative training programmes delivered by Mayo Sligo Leitrim ETB to employers in 2021, to address an identified skills gap.

MSLETB’s employer engagement staff are constantly looking to bring forward useful and innovative training programmes to support employers in the region and to address their skills needs in the workplace.

Geraldine O’Hare, Employer Engagement Officer, said “There was a skills gap to be addressed here, particularly for small or medium-size organisations who generally do not have a dedicated data protection officer.” Staff in these companies are responsible for dealing with personal data for employees from a HR / Payroll perspective and for handling client or supplier details, though their knowledge and skills to ensure GDPR compliance may be limited.

MSLETB provided a QQI Level 6 validated special purpose award in Data Protection Skills, which was delivered online over 7 weeks/21 hours. The programme ran as a joint venture across the whole MSL area and the cohort included many SMEs who referred a key staff member. From the Mayo region, companies included McGraths Quarry, Ave Maria Nursing Home, Atir Clothing and Dalgan Wood. A wide range of enterprises participated from the Sligo area including retailers, hospitality, a car dealership, nursing homes, a transcription service, accountancy firms and manufacturing companies. Feedback from participants has been very positive. Margaret, a Nursing Home Manager running a facility in Ballyhaunis said “I really enjoyed the course. I have a lot more work to do now and you have given me good guidance on how to do it.”

The training aimed to strengthen internal practices in relation to data handling, storage, privacy and managing access to data records. All employers are ‘data controllers’ and so have a duty to ensure that correct data handling procedures are implemented internally in their organisations.

FET sector staff upskill in nZEB

Waterford and Wexford ETB (WWETB) in partnership with Kildare and Wicklow ETB and Limerick and Clare ETB, collaborated with The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) via the Skills to Advance Innovation through Collaboration Fund to design and deliver a Certificate in Training in near Zero Energy Building (nZEB) to upskill trainers in ETBs. The first cohort completed their course in November 2021, with 17 participants from WWETB, LCETB, MSLETB, LOETB, and KWETB.

Nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) have very high energy performance, with the low amount of energy that they require coming mostly from renewable sources. The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010 (amended) requires all new buildings to be nZEB, which means any buildings completed after December 2020 should achieve the standard.

A key challenge for Ireland in meeting the Directive is to produce a workforce with the practical skills and knowledge to construct, install and maintain an nZEB infrastructure. With the support of the Skills to Advance Innovation through Collaboration Fund, WWETB and its partners are addressing the challenge of scaling up by developing the Certificate in Training in nZEB. It will increase the number of ETB staff across the sector capable of delivering nZEB training to tradespeople and will increase the capacity to deliver courses flexibly to meet industry needs.

Innovative delivery modes have been developed which includes a series of training videos to reduce the time learners spend in a training centre and minimize their time away from work. The design of a virtual reality platform will enable learners to individually explore the retrofit process and engage with the course in an active way. The innovative training resources will support nZEB and retrofit training providing flexible delivery modes for large scale upskilling to meet the sustainable building agenda.

Cop26 urged the global construction industry to embrace sweeping changes to meet climate goals given that it is responsible for 40% of global CO2 emissions. FET is at the forefront in addressing these challenges faced by construction, helping Ireland deliver on its green targets.

Like to contribute to our eNewsletter?

If your ETB has a story about a Skills to Advance programme and its participants or an event that you would like to see featured in the next issue of this eNewsletter please email [email protected] - the deadline for submissions to be considered for our February issue is Tuesday 25th January.

Contact Information

For Skills to Advance contacts in the ETBs click here.

For queries about Skills to Advance email us at [email protected].

SOLAS
Block 1, Castleforbes House, Castleforbes Road, Dublin 1, D01 A8N0
[email protected]

(01) 533 2500

Find out more at www.skillstoadvance.ie.

On social media look out for the hashtag #SkillsToAdvance

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