NESMA backs call for new electrical fitter licence

Switchboard manufacturers’ peak body in NSW is strongly backing a call for broad industry support for changes to the National Occupational Licensing System (NOLS) to include a new electrical fitter licence. The call was made by a member of a statutory committee advising the federal government on impending changes to NOLS, Bob Taylor, in an address to the annual seminar of the National Electrical Switchboard Manufacturers Association (NSW) Inc in Sydney.

A single national licence for electrical fitters would enhance safety and efficiency by removing licensing inconsistencies across Australia, providing a more mobile skilled workforce, reducing red tape and improving the competitiveness and productivity of the national economy, said Taylor. Recognising the different roles performed by specialised electrical switchboard fitters and general electricians would benefit not only the switchboard manufacturing industry, but also a cross-section of customers in industries using its products.

The recommendation for such a change must be made before a Federal and State Government Ministerial Council meets at the end of 2011 to consider finalised regulations and a Decision Regulation Impact Statement prior to the commencement of the licensing system for the electrical occupational area on 1 July next year. But the change will only be effective if all states and territories adopt the same recommendation. “If just one jurisdiction doesn’t take it up, it’s a problem,” said Taylor, who is CEO of EE-Oz Training Standards and an electrical industry professional with more than 30 years’ experience in public and private works.

The President of NESMA NSW, Yeh-Sheng Kuan, said failure to support the electrical fitter licence would have profound implications, not only for safety, but also for the standards of professionalism and skills of young people entering the industry and, ultimately, Australian industry’s ranking within the international stream of technology development. “This is a fundamental issue affecting the future of our industry,” Yeh-Sheng Kuan told a full house of more than 120 NESMA representatives and industry professionals at the NESMA Seminar 2011 on 26 July.

NESMA industry customers include the mining and construction industries, electronic and electrical engineering; building, construction and property management; industrial automation; computer; data processing in financial, retail, hospital, hospitality and commercial applications; manufacturing and metal processing; energy and petroleum; transport, warehousing and workshop; industrial process and control engineering, including infrastructure and water and waste water management; and safety.