Intruder training

[lloydh]

Hi,

We have recently taken on a new member of staff to train in Fire & Security. And i was wondering if any of you had experience with this https://www.tavcom.com/training-courses/intruder-alarms/practical-intruder-alarms/ course? Good bad? Any others i should look at?

 

i was trained on the job by my previous employer along with manufacturer training and a BS5839 course for fire alarm. But i would like to give our newbie actual qualifications as i think it would benifit us both. 

 

Oh and before anyone points it out, i am not expecting to send a guy with no experience on a course for a week and then kick him straight out to jobs on his return by himself. I fully understand that the knowledge and ability needed for working on intruder systems involves a lot of hands on experience. 

 

We don't do much domestic. Its mainly offices and warehouses any training advice welcome.

 

Cheers.

[PeterJames]

I have two apprentices, but neither are on the Tavcom course they dont do one in my area, due to the fact that there is not enough apprentices to warrant it.

Nobody wants to take the time and investment to train people ......well why would they when they can poach my staff.

 

[sjsturner]

There used to be a C&G Intruder Alarm qual but it was nights/day release for 1 year and I must admit the kids that did it without working in the alarm industry came into security jobs and didn’t have a clue. I believe it covers fire+Intruder now but is 2 year course!

The best form of training comes on the job, buddying up with a decent engineer, it is time consuming but the veterans in this game is where the gold is in terms of knowledge.

Creating test rigs does help too.

 

if you wants Quals for the boys Tavcom maybe the easiest solution.

[lloydh]

Agree on time spent with experienced engineers is best way forward. I've been doing alarms for years and I'm still learning new stuff. 

 

Theres no apprenticeship scheme here for alarms. (Guernsey) but my thoughts are that the way things are going these days, an official qualification is a good thing for us as a company, our employees and our customers. 

Otherwise i know at some point i know i will run into:

"ah you have a new employee, what training do they have?"

Me "i trained him"

"Who trained you?"

Me "this old guy, he was super clever but hes now retired"

Etc etc

 

[sixwheeledbeast]

Grandfather rights seem to get you places in this industry. Unfortunate for those that are actually "qualified", as essentially your shiny certificate means very little.

That's not to say a fresh engineer with quals can be put straight on the job or would be better. You certainly learn a whole lot more on the job, with the caveat you are paired with a good engineer for a while.

[sjsturner]

The last lad I spoke too who did a years course C&G at college passed it ect, I asked him what panels they used on the rigs, his answer “none” it was all drawing and answering questions, they looked at a small domestic intruder panel once. He didn’t know how to terminate resistors or anything, in reality he was qualified to instal intruder alarms but didn’t know how too. 

[sixwheeledbeast]

C&G/NVQ is more catered to day release, work based learning. It's mostly around theory, regs and paperwork side, very little hands on.

If your competent you will be bored but learn a little, if incompetent you will likely doss off and have a chance at passing.