ROADS REVIEW WITH THE INDUSTRY STRUGGLING WITH SKILLED LABOUR SHORTAGES AMIDST A SURGE OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, WE ASK INDUSTRY LEADERS: WHAT CAN THE INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR DO BETTER TO NARROW THE EXISTING SKILLS GAP?
CHRIS MELHAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CIVIL CONTRACTORS FEDERATION NATIONAL The immediate reinstatement of civil occupations on the National Skills Needs List is fundamental to narrowing the skills gap in the civil infrastructure industry. These occupations include bridge, road and tunnel constructors, civil plant operators, pipe layers and line markers. With the stroke of a pen, the Government could make the civil construction sector more attractive for potential entrants by ensuring apprentices, VET providers and employers are eligible for government training incentives. Listing civil occupations on the National Skills Needs List takes on added importance in this current economic climate when Australia is looking to bounce back from the impacts of COVID-19.
DAVID HALLETT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, IPWEA VICTORIA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a must to build individual and organisational capability in the fast-moving infrastructure sector. Qualifications provide a solid base and diverse experience is vital, however an awareness and understanding of new technologies, tools and products is key to maintaining skill-set currency. Victoria’s Professional Engineers Registration Act 2019 recognises this by establishing minimum qualification, experience and CPD requirements for anyone providing a professional engineering service. But CPD isn’t a box-ticking exercise. Meaningful, role-relevant learning is more important than ever for anyone seeking to develop and deliver successful infrastructure projects.
TANJA CONNERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KNOWLEDGE AND PARTNERSHIPS, AFPA AfPA has addressed the skills gap by working with industry to develop a Flexible Pavements Industry Skills Card. The card will comprise of units taken from the Certificate III Bituminous Surfacing qualification that have been designed to form a skills set for various aspects of the flexible pavements industry. These unit are all competency-based and available under the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. The release of the card will happen in stages. The first stage was the development of the ‘Be Bitumen Safe’ training delivery online. This training is a pre-requisite to additional, more involved training in safely handling bituminous materials. The other stages will target asphalting and spray sealing operations and introduce other industry specific short courses, such as Chain of Responsibility and a National Work Around Mobile Plant course. The card is designed to further add skills sets for all fields within the flexible pavements industry. The resources will be developed by AfPA with industry, for industry, and the VET accredited units will only be delivered by Registered Training Organisations that hold a delivery agreement with the association.
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ROADS SEPTEMBER 2021
