FIA general manager Martin Duggan delivered three presentations about the new qualifications, one on each day of the three-day exhibition.
“The seminars were very well attended and it was a great opportunity to answer questions directly from visitors at the show,” he said. “These qualifications have taken years of development and we are really excited to share with the industry exactly what shape the qualifications will take.
“We’ve taken on new staff and had a small shake-up of the FIA team in preparation for the launch of the qualifications in order to answer all those initial questions and to ensure that the booking process goes smoothly.”
The FIA said the new courses met with a positive response from attendees working in all areas of the supply chain, as well as interest from beyond the UK.
“There are four new qualifications: designer, installer, maintainer, and commissioner,” explained Duggan. “ They are equivalent to a level 3 in the UK, so that is the same as an A-Level, but in Europe it is the same as a level 4 qualification on the European qualifications framework.”
FIA general manager Martin Duggan delivers FIREX 2017 seminar
The FIA handed out course prospectuses as well as snacks and drinks on its stand – the ‘FIA Lounge’ – which was designed to resemble a pub.
“The FIA Lounge was very successful,” said Kat Schabowska, marketing communications executive at the FIA. “We had back-to-back enquiries at the information desk and the bar area was full every day of the expo. We are delighted to be able to say that this year’s footfall on our stand was even better than last year.”
Martin Duggan says the new courses introduce elements not hitherto available in existing FIA courses.
“We did a gap analysis of our current training and the new qualifications to discover how much more the new qualifications would offer. The results show us that the courses will at least double in size,” explained Martin Duggan during his presentation.
“We’ve developed some units that are completely new, plus we added extra sections that industry stakeholders and employers have asked for. Our members have very much guided us in this direction towards including more content and making the courses longer and more extensive, in order to stretch the learners’ knowledge further than before.
Said Kat Schabowska: “We recommend that if you’re interested in our new qualifications or courses that you sign up to our email newsletter to find out when our booking system will go live.”
The new qualifications prospectus is available to download for free from the FIA website, or a hard copy can be requested by emailing [email protected].
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