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Award-winning industry training from SAEMA
SAEMA (Specialist Access Engineering & Maintenance Association) is the national trade body for the permanent and temporary façade access equipment industry
Established in 1972, SAEMA works alongside national and international regulatory bodies developing and maintaining industry standards and publishing a number of free-to-access guidance documents. Members install and maintain a wide variety of suspended access systems used to work on the façade of buildings.
SAEMA is a founding member of the Access Industry Forum (AIF), which is the grouping together of all work-at-height trade associations with the common aims of promoting safe working practices for working at height. Each member is the lead organisation in its own specialist work-at-height sector. Six key objectives form the foundation of SAEMA’s work: 1. To participate in the development of national and international standards relevant to the façade access equipment industry.
2. To encourage adherence to safe and best practice for the provision of access to buildings and other structures for the purposes of cleaning and maintenance.
3. To promote co-operation between its members and the work at height industry in general.
4. To co-operate with other organisations, specialist bodies and institutions (property developers, architects, planning supervisors, insurance companies, facilities managers, etc) involved in the provision and maintenance of façade access systems and equipment.
5. To act in the best interests of the client in all matters relating to the design, manufacture, installation, maintenance and testing of systems and equipment.
6. To educate duty holders and suspended access users through their bespoke industry-leading training platform.
In October 2022, SAEMA User Training was a Bronze Winner at the Association Excellence Awards in London. The Association Excellence Awards salute, celebrate and encourage the vital work that associations, trade bodies, professional organisations and chartered institutes do for and on behalf of their members to ensure their voices are heard and their causes are championed.
SAEMA User Training was launched on 18 January 2021 as a new and unique way for those who work at height, operating suspended access equipment, to be assessed on their technical understanding of the processes and equipment involved.
The aim is to enable a greater number of engineers and operatives to become accredited as safe and competent, contributing to a safer façade access industry with fewer workplace accidents – SAEMA’s ultimate aim.
The innovative virtual training platform represents the next evolution in SAEMA’s commitment to advancing safety through raising the standards in best practice.
It is simple yet powerful, engaging yet time efficient, enabling employers and their people to gain the knowledge and understanding needed to stay safe at height, with important certification from the acknowledged experts in this specialist sector.
Part 1 of SAEMA User Training is taken remotely, at the user’s convenience. This unique and engaging tool can be accessed securely on SAEMA’s training website via the user’s computer or device. SAEMA worked closely with its marketing and communications agency, Mercury Group, to create the online training platform: training.saema.org. This is accessible from the main SAEMA site: saema. org and explains exactly how the training works, what it involves and what the user needs to do in the following simple stages:
How It Works
Resources
Tracking Progress
Re-take Test
Part 1 includes an introduction followed by eight sections for the user to complete. The platform contains a number of short videos for users to watch, culminating in a remotely invigilated test and gives users two opportunities to achieve the required results.
After each section is completed, the answers are saved so that users can come back and complete the other sections later if they wish.
The user must pass the test before they are certified to move to Part 2 – the practical on-site training, which has a standardised syllabus. Upon passing Part 1 of the test, a certificate is sent to the user as proof of their accreditation.
A copy can also be sent to the employer. The user is then also issued with a virtual card which is stored on their smartphone and can be checked by Duty Holders in real time when users arrive on site for Part 2 Training.
Following successful Part 2 on-site training, the virtual card will be endorsed with the site details which can also be checked in real time by Duty Holders to ensure that users are trained properly in the use of the systems on site.
Duty Holder Training
Training for Duty Holders will be launching in 2023. It is designed to equip them with the knowledge they require to manage suspended access equipment on their sites, in a compliant manner. This includes:
Certification in regard to the latest standards
Knowing what the standards and legislation require them to do to remain compliant
Understanding what maintenance and testing is required
Knowing what to ask for when managing users (Parts 1 and 2)
Using the same sector-leading system as Part 1 of SAEMA User Training
Training can be undertaken remotely, at the Duty holder’s leisure. It is cost effective and won’t intrude on their working day.
Why does it benefit the industry?
Falls from height remain one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries, as reported by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Any employer or person who is in charge of working at height has a legal duty to make sure their people have sufficient knowledge and experience to carry out their work safely and competently.
Until now, the task of giving operatives the required level of background knowledge and experience was widely variable. That’s why SAEMA Training is advancing the industry with regard to training and worker safety delivered consistently to all users of suspended access equipment. It removes the need for operatives to attend a classroom course; instead, they can be trained and assessed on their background knowledge of suspended access equipment anywhere that has an internet connection. The test is carefully designed to be both comprehensive and simple to use.
The SAEMA online training platform produces great results for those working UK-wide in the permanent and temporary access industry, without costing a lot of money. The cost for accessing SAEMA’s e-learning suite of 10 videos, for completing the innovative multiple choice test system and for producing and sending a certificate of competence, is just £75.00 per person. As such, it raises standards for people working in the sector in a safe and affordable manner.
The online training platform continues to grow in popularity. By May 2022, the 750th virtual card was issued – less than 16 months after its launch in January 2021. At the time of going to print, over 980 virtual cards have been issued.
