SELECT, the trade body for electrical professionals in Scotland, has welcomed a small but significant upturn in the number of young women undergoing apprenticeships as electricians. Figures gathered by Scotland’s largest trade association show that there are now 13 female apprentices training to be electricians in 2019-2020, compared to seven
Unite the Union has gathered together representatives of both employers and employees in Scotland to press the case with the Government for the protection of title for the occupation of electrician; a move that is estimated to boost the economy by £58 million. The union supported the Electricians Working Group
SELECT, the trade body for electrical professionals in Scotland, has welcomed a small but significant upturn in the number of young women undergoing apprenticeships as electricians. Figures gathered by Scotland’s largest trade association show that there are now 13 female apprentices training to be electricians in 2019-2020, compared to seven in 2018-2019. Fiona Harper, Director of Employment and Skills at SELECT, said: “This is excellent news, coming as it does in Scottish Apprenticeship Week, which runs from 2 to 6 March. “An electrical apprenticeship for a young woman, just as for everyone else, is a life-changing experience which can open many doors, not only to further career progression and global travel, but also to professional regard and life fulfilment.” To mark the occasion, SELECT has commissioned a short film, The Power of Apprenticeships, which features an interview at a member company in Falkirk with one of its female apprentices, Neave Brownlie. The TClarke trainee says: “I finished school and could have gone to uni, but I preferred the idea of being paid while I was learning to become a qualified electrician. “I’m enjoying it; you’re never left alone on site, there’s always someone there supporting you and making sure you are safe. I’m treated like a daughter or a sister and everyone I’ve worked with has been lovely. “The exciting thing is the opportunity to travel the world once I have completed my apprenticeship and become a qualified electrician.” The Power of Apprenticeships also features another TClarke employee, Elyse McBride, a qualified electrician who is now office-based and is training to become a quantity surveyor. Elyse – a former SJIB Apprentice of the Year finalist in the SELECT Awards – said: “Completing an apprenticeship as an electrician was fundamental to me moving into a managerial role. “There are any number of different paths that can be followed as a qualified electrician, and the career world is your oyster.” Filmed at TClarke in Falkirk, and now available to view on SELECT’s YouTube channel, the video was produced in partnership with the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB), the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) and Unite the Union. Ms Harper, who is also The Secretary of the SJIB, added: “There is a world of opportunity for young women in the electrical sector and with this film we hope to encourage many more of them, currently in school or college, to consider an electrical apprenticeship as a serious career option.” Founded in 1900, SELECT is Scotland’s largest trade association. It has nearly 1,250 members businesses with a collective turnover of approximately £1bn, employing more than 15,000 people and 3,500 apprentices. SELECT also delivers training courses to more than 3,500 electricians each year and is committed to regulation of the industry for a safer Scotland. The Scottish Joint Industry Board was founded in 1969 by SELECT and Unite the Union.
Unite the Union has gathered together representatives of both employers and employees in Scotland to press the case with the Government for the protection of title for the occupation of electrician; a move that is estimated to boost the economy by £58 million. The union supported the Electricians Working Group which was convened at Holyrood following a concerted awareness-raising push by electrical employers’ association SELECT, the Scottish Joint Industry Board and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust. “With this whole-hearted support from our industry partners Unite the Union, there is now a discernible groundswell of opinion in favour of regulation and in particular protection of title for electricians,” said Fiona Harper, the Secretary of the SJIB. The Government is asked to recognise the skills, knowledge, training, experience and qualifications of electrician and their vital role in the functioning of a modern society. The supporters are also asking for the Government to take into consideration the risk to public safety of unqualified or underqualified people being able to pass themselves off as electrician, especially when carrying out work for vulnerable householders. “Our members have expressed their frustration that people in such a safety-critical occupation are able to use the title of electrician when they have not met the established national and industry standards,” said Pat Rafferty, the Unite Scottish Secretary. SELECT proves in a report from 4-Consulting on the economic impact of regulating electricians in Scotland that protecting lives and property in this manner could save the country around £58 million a year. It pointed out that 10 people were killed and more than 600 injured in electrical fault-related incidents in 2016 alone. “We do not want to leave people behind if they want to operate as competent and safe electricians and we have taken steps to ensure that there are a variety of ‘routes to qualification’ to make the profession as inclusive as possible,” said Newell McGuiness, SELECT Managing Director. SELECT’s 1250 member companies account for around 90% of all electrical installation work carried out in Scotland. They have a collective turnover of around £1 billion and provide employment for 15,000 people.
