Support for apprentices during the current climate

The 22 NDT Engineer apprentices I work with have been mostly furloughed since COVID-19 impacted the UK. The rules on furlough mean they can still complete training, so they have been able to finish their NDT degree courses with the University of Northampton and prepare for the examinations held in June. Future plans are uncertain at the moment but, with the flexibility of the standards, we do not want to extend the duration of the apprenticeship and I expect all of them to complete as per their original timeline. I would like to encourage my fellow employers to support their apprentices, look at furlough, extensions and funding breaks and be as creative as possible in the current financial climate. We have worked with our HSE, management and unions to create a socially distanced factory, so it will only be a matter of time before we recall our apprentices to work. I have been assuring apprentices that, as NDT is legally mandated, they will be able to secure future employment once they have passed their apprenticeship. All of our apprentices have been sent additional free training information, so it will be interesting to see which ones have been proactive and learnt new skills while being absent! I am expecting to see some good Python programmers and hear how they contacted apprentices in the years above to help them prepare for future NDT degree courses.

The BINDT Education & Professional Development Committee will also reconvene; one topic for discussion via Zoom is how we can incorporate condition monitoring into the existing NDT standards and tidy them up.

Please note that the views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not represent the views of Rolls-Royce.

Iain Baillie is with Lead Employer Rolls-Royce and is involved with the NDT apprenticeships scheme. He is also BINDT President Elect.

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