Brits talkin about Brit stuff

[SteveBullman]

Face the truth... When we kicked you out of this country, you had no where else to go but an island.
oh so we didnt have the commonwealth then ?????????plus we were busy kicking the frenchies arses and couldnt be bothered kicking your arses .

my wife just confirmed that fact, and thats what she learnt studying american history at penn state
mr bowler is just an ignoramarse

 

[tam]

None of them is qualified full stop.

hey come on

 

[Acer]

Of course it is difficult for small businesses to stump up the cost of a whole suite of NPTC units for an empolyee and potentailly watch them walk away after only six months with you. A lot of firms will therefore limit the training the workforce recieves or only train them up in certain areas ie. ground work only. We then enter a vicious circle of poorly trained, unexperienced staff, who are generally on low wages working in a labour intensive industry, I think that circle already exists!

How about some ideas then, many of us feel that the colleges aren't doing the job properly, climbers with a whole rack of NPTC tickets generally have no experience yet want the money of an experienced arborist. NPTC units are a health and safety qualification and that's it, they only demonstrate part of what is legally competent. Little training is given on tree health care and management, along side staff having little educational development. Risk assessment may be undertaken through neccessaity (ie the contract your on) not choice along with LOLER, PUWER, Working at Height Regs etc.

So how do we break this cycle, how can we create an educated, practical and academic workforce that have the ability to gain hands on saw/tree time?

I have some ideas, most of us are employers and we all know what the problems are and what we want so what should be done?

Good points..I've always taken on people with the relevant qualifications. Of the people I've employed in the past, there are those that are well meaning but just cannot work at a commercial pace, and others who expect more than I can give, and stay until they think they know enough and move on (usually to start up by them selves). I've never paid for anyone to do NPTC units because I think the money will be wasted as far as I am concerned. It would help close the circle you describe, but I'm afraid I cannot be that altruistic when I'm making enough to pay all the bills, buy food and not much else. Generally, people bugg'r off once I've taught them the basics of hedgelaying (thinking they know the lot). To me, that involves paying someone who is, understandably, not doing enough work to cover their wages, as they learn to pick up speed, plus me working at reduced output as I take frequent breaks from my stretch of hedge to supervise. I get the feeling that younger people are more likely to focus on themselves to the exclusion of everything else, and be quicker to forget (or not even realise in the first place!) any favours you may have given them whilst employing them. I know I was more like that in my 20s, so perhaps it's karma!

Perhaps a training and development contract would help, as someone else mentioned. Get it in writing that, in exchange for the training and units, the employee serves a certain period, or forfeits part or all of the final pay packet if they break the agreement. It'd be interesting to see if anyone here does have some sort of contract like that in place. As for me, I've never tried this out, and don't intend to for the foreseeable future. My last helper left to set up on his own about a month ago. and I'm planning to subbie and do what I can do on my own, and get in other subbies when I have to have help.

 

[Ross Turner]

hey come on

Yes tom you are for climbing & chainsaw in a tree,but none of the electrical units.

 

[Ross Turner]

Acer,i belive fountains operate a policy that if an employee leaves after trainning they have to pay a % back

 

[Thor's Hammer]

I lost a lot of staff to fountains when they decided to move into north wales and took over all utility work. Because I'd paid for all my lads to do their NPTC arb and electric tickets, Fountains poached them first. such is life.

 

[blue]

gotta admit when the council i worked for at the time put all of us thru our NPTC's we could have left at anytime but none of us did.a few years later they wanted to put me thru a trainer and assesor's course.but if i accepted i wouldn't be able to leave for 2 years without having to pay for the courses,fock that as the only reson they wanted me to do it was because so many of people they sent to be assesed failed.mmmmm i wonder why they wanted an in house assesor

 

[teressa green]

yep ,get the git binned ,saddo ,merry crimbo to arborists world wide ,wether ,white,black,yellow ,blue ,brown ,have a safe and prosperous new year all of you ,with one exception ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,have a good one boys and girls ,,,,,

 

[Thor's Hammer]

I just passed an arsehole detector over Mr Bowler's post's and the needle went off the scale. Methinks a troll is fishing...

 

[puwer]

Highpoint, yes I know both Peter and Dave.

 

[Ross Turner]

I lost a lot of staff to fountains when they decided to move into north wales and took over all utility work. Because I'd paid for all my lads to do their NPTC arb and electric tickets, Fountains poached them first. such is life.

Just a shame they lost the contract

 

[highpoint-utd]

sorry puwer but i was asking pruner not yourself ,anyhow how do you know them ,have you worked for glendales in the past?pete is a great lad the other fella well lets just say we have had a difference of opinon.he started of being alright then went power crazy

 

[Ross Turner]

I did a few days for glendale in the early 90`s on the Bristol contract,They had just won it & wanted someone fast,i was willing to go down at short notice but in the end went down after the new year.
I was told that they would sort my accomodation out,which when i got down there on the sunday night i was taken to the yard at St Georges & shown my digs,A steel porta cabin that was used as an office & canteen,so i did 1.5 days & was home by tuesday night.
The bloke who interveiwed me was Brian Higginson(i think) & when he found out how i was treat he wern`t happy.
Great guys who was with me,they where based on the solihull contract.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Bowler is a troll ,better to just ignore the creature...

 

[puwer]

H'point - sorry I must have misread the puwer/pruner! Peter i know through assocaitions with Myerscough College and Dave with the ISA UK&I Chapter.

Ross, Brian is now programme leader at Warwickshire College, Moreton Morell campus.

 

[highpoint-utd]

worked with pete for a few years got to be good mates .was him that taught me to climb,as i was a groundie first off.dave became unrealistic and forgot what it was like to be a working man but i wont go into that ,lets just say me and my groundie/nephew scared the bejesus out of him and got sacked on a friday by countryside and retaken on by grounds maintenance on the monday .was out of work for a weekend didnt go down to well with dave ah well all in the past i suppose.
what happened to the certified tree worker thingy that mr peake was so keen on getting going(he wanted everyone at glendales to do it )

 

[PRUNER 1]

highpoint, i do know of pete, pony tail n all, but i didnt know him as such. i met him at the northwest climbin comp in leyland a few years ago. to be honest i wouldnt mind going back to glendale. at least i was there to work. we all got a bollocking today for working too fast. again. 5 lads, no work, the 2 agency lads were threatened with being laid off if we dont slow down. apparetly the work is there but we aint got it yet. i wish the could just give us it and let us get down to work.

 

[Ross Turner]

I thought darlo had the contract or do they have to bid for each job?.
I see some agency is advertising for a labourer to work in darlo in the forestry section of the jobcentre

 

[highpoint-utd]

pruner i was there too,was with pete and jock from myerscough ,it was 2000.
that was the weekend i mentioned in my above post lol.

 

[PRUNER 1]

hp, jock was or still is working for north east i think. office stuff i think tho.
ross, we do have the contract, but they subbied out the street tree survey and theyre just waiting for confirmation of works or summat. the work will be nice wen we get it. i think were gona have a lot of big fells cumin in!