Lightning Protection Test & Inspection Engineer Qualification - NVQ Level 3

The actual terminology means National Vocational Qualification and is a recognised & required qualification you will need to apply for a CSCS Skills Card which has become the most accepted form for demonstrating levels of competence to access construction sites.

NVQ’s are evidence-based competence qualifications, they are judged by a qualified assessor in that specific trade/work area.

Each NVQ is broken down into units, these represent key areas of that specific trade or skill set for example installations, testing & inspection, maintenance, but also includes health safety & welfare, good working practice, manual handling, etc as well as any potential working at height or access & egress that may be required for the task at hand.

The terminology means On Site Assessment & Training.

OSAT’s are the method we use to get you to where you need to be for NVQ Qualification you are working towards.

Benefits allow the assessor to use your existing skills, experience, and any everyday tasks & standard training you have received as evidence towards your NVQ.

It allows many different assessment methods including but not limited to observations of you doing your job/tasks, discussions and being able to ask questions, we can use the likes of videos & recorded conversations and a thing called APL Approved Prior Learning alongside your work history, we use which ever routes are best suited for you.

No completely the opposite the OSAT route means exactly that, it is done out on site, with the assessor judging the evidence you submit.

This is not a training course or training programme it is an assessment of your work to check it meets with the various units within the qualification, if the assessor feels you need further training, they will discuss this with you and between yourselves come up with a plan of action.

They allow up to two years, but this is dependent on your personal circumstances, for instance if you already have a great deal experience & knowledge this can be greatly reduced, also it is done at your pace, we agree times in the planning to set goals to guide us & keep us on track.

These are not set in stone, they are completely flexible so if there and potential issues or problems you encounter along the way you let the assessor know and they will work with you and agree another way, it is that simple.

As mentioned, there are numerous ways to assess your work but mainly it is the assessor coming out to site to watch, discuss and ask you questions on what you do, they then record what they have seen you do and what they have discussed with you to ensure that it all meets with the individual units within the NVQ, this is called recording the evidence.

Since the recent pandemic the most favoured way is for you to record your own videos of you doing various tasks & jobs and send them via WhatsApp to the assessor, they review it and if need be, telephone you to discuss what’s been submitted and ask any questions to cover anything that might be missing.

Then when you have gathered enough evidence, we can move to the final stages and carry out what is called a professional discussion.

For this qualification the Academy has produced a videos suggestion list, this is also backed up with numerous video examples for you to look at to get a good idea of what you need to do and how to start.

Please do not worry about these videos the assessor will always be available to assist & guide you throughout, in fact you can see them doing & demonstrating what’s required in many of the example’s videos provided.

It is where the assessor sits down with yourself and discusses you & your job, what you do & how you do it, it is simply that a conversation between two people who are in the same trade.

The assessors will keep this very relaxed & informal, at this stage they will have worked with you now for some time & have a good understanding of your strengths and the best way to speak & communicate with you.

We all like to tell people what we do, just akin it to having a chat with your partner/friend at the end of the day and you are discussing what’s happened & what you have done.

We will need to arrange a meeting to do an Induction, this might take up to an hour. We will go through & explain what you need to do to get where you need to be, qualified with an NVQ Certification in your chosen skill set.

We will compete a registration form and then that is sent to an organisation called NSAC (National Specialist Accredited Centre), you will then receive official notification that you are registered on the NVQ, if at that time you require you can apply for a Red CSCS Trainee Card, it will state on the back which NVQ you are working towards, again as mentioned before this card is becoming the ‘Go To’ form of identification to access construction sites.

During the induction we will also put together a plan of action this is called the ‘Assessment Plan’ where we set out agree between us both what you need to do for the forthcoming period and what the assessor is going to do as well, we agree time/goals these are there to assist and keep us on track, they are not set in stone, they are completely flexible so if there and potential issues or problems encounter along the way which might affect the outcome we simply let each other know, discuss what needs to be done, and produce another plan.

These plans are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that we are making progress, both you & the assessor have the same goal in wanting to get you to successfully completing and being awarded you NVQ Certification.

Very Important Note – You do not have to be able to remember or be required to know all of these off the top of your head, all you need to do is agree and work with your assessor, and they will guide you thought the whole process from beginning to end.

The NVQ Level 3 Lightning Protective Inspection & Test Engineer Qualification (QUF 855) consists of 8No mandatory units as follows.

• A/503/1170 (QCF 641) – General Health & Safety
• L/503/9919 (QCF 120) – Carrying Out Site Measurements and Evaluations in the Workplace
• A/503/2772 (QCF 209) – Confirming Working Activities & Resources for an Occupational Work Area in the Workplace
• M/503/2915 (QCF 210) – Developing and Maintaining Good Occupational Working Relationships in the Workplace
• R/503/2924 (QCF 211) – Confirming the Occupational Method of Work in the Workplace
• D/600/8281 (QCF 250) – Erecting & Dismantling Access Platforms in the Workplace
• M/600/8303 (QCF 252) – Using Fall Protection Systems in the Workplace
• R/503/9923 (QCF 325) – Inspecting and Testing Lightning Protection Systems in the Workplace

Each of the units represent key areas like health safety & welfare, measuring & evaluation, work activities, good working practice & manual handling, in this case the top five, then because the testing & inspection of lightning protection encounters working at height and how to get up & down from that place, we need to check for fall protection and the use of access equipment, the final unit is solely based on the specific requirements associated with the testing & inspection of lightning protection.

The video suggestions list helps guide you to producing evidence to meet with the requirements of these units, and we back this up with the use of discussion to ensure that nothing is missed.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact The Academy directly at hello@millbrookforst.co.uk