News offer basic skills : theoretical and tool skills , with perhaps a bit of electrical work .
“ There are a number of private training providers , large and small , looking primarily at the refrigeration sector and its safe handling . These are aimed at the technician who is already in the industry and has to comply with legal requirements . SARACCA doesn ’ t itself offer courses but subsidises them to our members to encourage them to do skill development in design functions , or skills needed on site in construction such as working at height , scaffold erection , site safety , power tools , firefighting and more ,” says Richardson .
The main HVAC & R courses are based on the Department of Education unit standards , which were developed about 2000 , and of which there are a massive number available .
SARACCA was involved in the development of these courses through a project managed at the time by a project manager ( Air Conditioning Council of South Africa ) which SARACCA then took over .
These courses are administered by SARACCA on behalf of SAQCC Gas to meet the Pressure Equipment Regulations . The government , through the PER and OHAS Act require that all refrigerant gas practitioners be registered with SAQCC alongside the liquid petroleum gas practitioners , the natural gas practitioners and the ordinary gas practitioners – those trades using oxygen , nitrogen and the nitrous oxides . Out of memberships levies , SARACCA subsidises such training to 75 % of the cost . Richardson notes that while a handful of companies are very good at training their staff , “[ B ] ecause of the post-Covid economic slowdown there has been a fall in applications for these subsidies ”. He notes that companies may occasionally be reluctant to do so given that staff sometimes leave the company as soon as they ’ ve qualified .
“ We also subsidise SARACCA members who take on an engineering undergraduate studying at a major university or technikon – because they need to have a period of experiential training on the job . Such people don ’ t necessarily stay in HVAC & R but some may be drawn to it based on their experience .
“ Universities don ’ t offer a dedicated course in HVAC & R – only short courses on them as part of the bigger engineering course . University of Stellenbosch was the last to offer a dedicated course , but the numbers weren ' t sufficient to justify it . The industry is not so big as to absorb dozens of students every year .”
He notes that today , all the unit standards are falling away with changes in the Department of Education curriculum . “ As a result , training has become a little bit in disarray . There ’ s also a lot of new refrigerant systems using carbon dioxide and for smaller systems hydrocarbon refrigerants . That hasn ' t moved into room air conditioning units yet but it ' s going to come and our training providers are gearing up for that .”
Training at OTTC .
Richardson references the pronounced skills shortage at the design level , as people with 30 to 40 years ’ experience retire , while new graduates either haven ’ t yet acquired the necessary experience or are in any case emigrating with the result that the quality of people specifying systems is low . “ There ' s a massive gap . And there ' s such great demand worldwide that refrigeration artisans and
mechanical engineers go to Australia , New Zealand , Canada , UK – particularly the English-speaking countries . They then encourage their colleagues to also emigrate for the hard currency .
Richardson notes that SARACCA has not specifically promoted HVAC & R at schools , although new NEC member Phophi Nematangari will have this as a focus in the future . “ Unfortunately , at the moment every matriculant aspires to go to university with school emphasising following a skilled trade or apprenticeships . There is also little emphasis by companies on getting people to do their trade test , even if they have many years of actual experience . There are adult education programmes at the accredited training providers , but it ’ s not encouraged enough by companies perhaps because once they ’ ve qualified they command a higher salary .”
SARACCA regularly liaises with various government , but Richardson laments that these departments themselves function in silos , limiting the actioning of any “[ P ] urely paper-based ” initiatives . RACA
“ There ’ s such great demand worldwide that refrigeration artisans and mechanical engineers go to Australia , New Zealand , Canada , UK – particularly the English-speaking countries .”
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I May 2023 5