The Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE) is encouraging bus and coach engineers and mechanics to compete with their peers as part of an online test, covering three disciplines – electrical, body and mechanical – to see who’s got the best skills in the industry.
The IRTE Skills Test is an interactive way of finding out how on the ball employees are and if, in-fact, they are more clued-up than their managers in tackling the evaluation.
The test is a pre-cursor to the formal IRTE Skills Challenge which is sponsored by Bridgestone. This will see bus and coach operators put forward teams to compete in a series of engineering assessments in June. The hopefuls will compete to win one of six awards to be presented to winners and finalists during a ceremony in July 2012.
The awards are:
- Top scoring mechanical technician
- Top scoring electrical technician
- Top scoring body technician
- Electrical, mechanical and body team award
- Mechanical & electrical combined award Best collaboration on teamwork challenge award.
As well as an opportunity to compete with fellow workers, the online assessment also provides the opportunity to highlight gaps in knowledge which need to be addressed.
Stuart Attfield, Commercial Marketing Coordinator at Bridgestone, said: “This is a fascinating way to discover if your skill set is up to scratch. The opportunity to compete with fellow colleagues, as well as those in more senior positions may also reveal you’re streets ahead.
“However, identifying where skills gaps exist is the underlying objective of the exercise as technical knowledge, or lack of it, has an instant effect on the safety of staff and customers. A snapshot of core training needs is therefore an essential call to action for providers.”
Registration for the online test can be done at https://tinyurl.com/d6juqzm
