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Following a communication from the IMI to the industry earlier in April 2010, an Automotive Technician Accreditation (ATA) Expert Working Group (EWG) for Panel was held on 25th June 2010 with a focus on several ‘welding issues’ highlighted by the industry.
The EWG (16 members present) had representation from across the accident repair sector of the motor industry which included vehicle manufacturers, associations/ federations, employers, welding specialists, industry research centre, training providers, standard institutions.
Please note, as defined in section 4.2.1 of the Thatcham - BSI document PAS125:2007, “evidence of competency in the repair tasks people are carrying out, demonstrated by either NVQ attained in last three years or industry recognised accreditation attained in last five years”, this section has not changed but specific issues have arisen around individual welding ‘certification’.
The group agreed that ‘welding’ remains a critical competence of a panel technician, but there is much confusion in the industry as to which standard an individual should be assessed against (i.e. BS or ATA). The group also highlighted that an individuals welding competence should be assessed every two years and that five years (as defined with ATA) was too long a time period to be reassessed at this competence.
It was noted that the BS 1140 / BS 4872 weld tests are similar to that of ATA Panel 01. Both methods used to measure the welding competence were seen as not sufficiently robust enough at present and cannot be truly audited. Due to BS weld competence being measured every two years, all agreed that the industry should use this test ‘providing’ there is a sufficient rigorous and robust assessment criteria than is used at present.
Only once a robust assessment criteria is in place for the BS weld testing, will the IMI look to remove PAN01 from the ATA Panel assessments with a view for a current BS weld certificate to be a prerequisite for individual attending an ATA Panel Technician assessment.
It was agreed by the members present at the meeting that a separate industry working group should review the criteria presently used to carryout the BS weld testing. This would inform BSI of a set of assessment criteria that could be used to audit against, making the assessment process robust. This work will commence at the end of August with a view to implement from October/November 2010.
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