INDIVIDUALS leaving the army are being urged to consider becoming trainers, assessors and building safety auditors.
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) said that with engineering and construction-related businesses reporting huge shortages of trained people, it is reaching out to army leavers to help address a ‘critical shortage’ of apprenticeship trainers and assessors.
BESA is urging them to consider signing up to its fully funded Skills Legacy programme, which was launched this year with the aim of recruiting 100 trainers and assessors to help further education providers deliver more building services apprenticeships.
The scheme brings together employers and training providers to create a pathway for anyone with the right skills, experience, and qualifications to become a trainer or assessor qualified to a Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA). It will also train engineers to become qualified building safety auditors in line with the ISO 9001 management standard.
“68% of UK employers struggled to find skilled workers in the past year, with the shortfall costing businesses a collective £4.4 billion,” said BESA’s head of competence Stuart Rattray. “Yet there is an often-overlooked solution hiding in plain sight in the shape of highly trained people leaving our armed forces.
“They represent a rich and largely untapped pool of skilled, dedicated professionals who bring with them a wealth of transferable skills, discipline, and a proven ability to thrive in high-pressure environments.
“However, as well as being ideal direct recruits into the built environment workforce, they can also be rapidly re-trained to help our colleges deliver more of the specialist courses we so desperately need.”
Army leavers are described as having a range of technical and leadership skills developed in challenging situations which gives them the attributes needed to become trainers, assessors, and building safety auditors. They are used to working under pressure, adapting to new technologies and environments quickly, and delivering results against tight deadlines.
“With a background that values commitment, structure, and integrity, former armed forces personnel are ideal for passing on a strong work ethic and the importance of reliability to a new generation – things that are hugely valuable to employers,” added Rattray. “They can also hit the ground running which is also extremely valuable at a time when our industry is struggling to cope with an ageing, and therefore shrinking, workforce.”
Two members of the Royal Corps of Engineers reached the final of this year’s WorldSkills UK refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump section, with one of those, 18-year-old Isaac Jervis, going on to take the gold medal.
The Manly Charitable Trust is co-sponsoring the scheme and committed to funding the first 50 participants. Founded by former BESA president Graham Manly in memory of his father Alfred Manly, the trust provides financial assistance to charities that provide opportunities for young people in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and help advance engineering education.
For more information about joining BESA’s Skills Legacy programme, visit the website here, while more information about the Manly Trust can be found here.
