would be? Add in the fact that perhaps you may have parted
with a fair amount of cash, for a product or service that didn’t
live up to your expectations, you’re probably more than just a
bit disgruntled!
In the structured cabling industry, if a product or a service
doesn’t meet a known criteria or standard, then the possibility
is that it could impact on the performance of the installed
network. That’s what the customers expects! Expectations
aren’t met, standards not adhered to, whatever next.
The bottom line is that we all need to work to the highest
attainable standards that prevail in our industry. This gives
everyone the products, the services, and the systems so they
are all meeting a standard. And here’s the thing, training is no
different.
We work diligently, upholding the standards that our
colleagues within the British Standards Institute (known as
BSI), together with the FIA who have, and continue, to set
new standards and revise old ones as they’ve been doing for
years. You might not realise this but the BSI itself is over 100
years old, and the FIA has been working alongside the BSI
since its inception in 1992.
What exactly is a standard?
Standards are an agreed way of doing something, written
down as a precise set of criteria so they can be used as rules,
guidelines, or definitions,” explains BSI’s website. “They are
made up from the knowledge of experts in their respective
fields, e.g. manufacturers, sellers, buyers, customers, trade
associations, or regulators. Standards are designed to make
things safer, easier, and healthier.”
Standards aren’t laws; they are recommendations; useful
guidelines that can improve the products and methods used
in the network cabling industry. We should all celebrate
standards because they drive the research and development
effort, and assist innovation of new designs.
In training, there too are standards that exist. This is
crucially important because the companies that are paying
for a training course need to have the highest level of quality
assurance. Customers need to see that there’s an even
playing field for training providers that deliver accredited
training courses - there are mechani sms for this - training
providers must be approved.
Cabling industry training
I’ve been involved in training for well over 20 years, and
it’s my long-held belief that qualifications, and these
qualifications are in themselves open, are strictly regulated by
the government of the day.
City & Guilds is the most valued awarding body in the
communications cabling industry; the qualification scheme
for the communications cabling industry is known as 3667.
Clients and customers must be able to be show that the
knowledge and skills that each training provider delivering
City & Guilds 3667 is offering identical courses in terms of
quality and learning outcomes. So, a prospective delegate
knows that the training, the processes, the standards applied,
will all be within a nominal range wherever the training and
assessment takes place.
This is all underpinned by a robust external auditing
procedure maintained by City & Guilds to ensure that not
only quality is observed, but is central to the entire process of
delivering the qualification. It’s akin to an Ofsted inspection.
Consider this: if training standards didn’t exist, the
communications cabling industry and the training that
underpins it would lack uniformity. Everyone could just
use whatever method they wanted, even if it wasn’t safe
in the eyes of others. Case in point: in the delivery of
the City & Guilds 3667 scheme, the standards that are
entirely referenced are the standards that we all know:
BSEN50173/50174, ISO 11801 and TIA/EIA 568 ‘C’/, ‘D’.
These standards and the training that approved centres
deliver, and go beyond simply setting a benchmark for
training. They bring to you, the customer, assurance and trust.
A final thought
When everyone is together, the sum of the parts is stronger
than the individuals. That’s why, with the help of the City &
Guilds qualifications we and our colleagues deliver, we can see
that skills and excellence of the installation technician and
practitioner can only improve to bring value and quality. n
able
asy
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