Latest News & Articles

Are you up to speed with the Qualifications Credit Framework?

Merit Skills Ltd has been working with sector skills councils and awarding bodies to review and update some of the existing qualifications in readiness for them to be placed on the QCF. Peter Featherstone of Merit Skills said "being involved in updating existing qualifications has given Merit Skills a real insight into the shape that the new units have taken and how they can be assessed."

There...

WIRS cut off dates are looming

Significant dates are approaching with regard to the Water Industry Registration scheme.

Those registered, or needing to be registered on the Experienced Worker route within the scheme need to be aware of the following:

• The deadline for new "experienced worker" registrations is 30th June less than 2 weeks away
• All "experienced worker" cards cease to be valid on 31st December this year...

The launch of our street works courses is coming soon

Merit Skills is in the process of working with City and Guilds to gain accreditation to deliver street works qualifications.

We hope to be ready to deliver courses in July 2010.

Course outlines can be found on our New Roads & Streetworks training pages

If you would like to know when we publish our first course dates please email us with your contac...

Street Works Qualifications Update

New Street Works Qualifications Regulations come into force on 10th April 2010. These regulations introduce the requirement that supervisors and operatives must be reassessed every five years to confirm that they are still competent before they can re-register and continue to carry out street works.

From 6th April 2010 an operative or supervisor can re-register with SWQR for another five years ...

WaterSkills offers new products following successful BPEC approval

WaterSkills is pleased to be able to offer BPEC/WRAS Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 Training and Assessment course following approval from BPEC.

This course is primarily aimed at practicing plumbing operatives who already have knowledge of hot and cold water systems, it will also be appropriate to water inspectors and anyone else who is involved with the installation, desig...

Plant hire company fined £200,000 for health and safety failings

A plant hire company has been fined £200,000 for health and safety failings that lead to an employee falling five metres to his death.

HSE prosecuted the company who admitted breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety At Work etc Act 1974 states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practic...

Water UK publish new water supply hygiene document

Water UK have recently published a new version of their Principles of Water Supply Hygiene document.

This document sets out the principles to be considered by water undertakers when drawing up their own operational procedures for maintaining wholesome and safe water supplies. This replaces the last version written in 1996 and offers more comprehensive guidelines than the previous version, incl...

Daly Flow Technologies praise WaterSkills

One of WaterSkills most recent projects has been to provide consultancy on a joint project between Information and Performance Services Ltd & Daly Fluid Technologies for the exchanging and upgrading of approximately 75 water meters on Sir Bani Yas Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Pipe sizes ranged from 100mm to 300mm and included materials such as Asbestos Cement, Ductile Iron, PVC & early black...

WaterSkills makes a splash in the newspaper

The team at Merit Skills had there moment of fame in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. The team were interviewed to mark the launch of their new company Merit Skills Ltd and the brand WaterSkills.

The article "Water a Great Way to Start a Training Firm" was published on 23rd March 2010.

The launch of Merit Skills and WaterSkills along with the article has been positively received by both c...

Merit Skills becomes an Energy and Utility Skills member

Merit Skills is pleased to have become a member of Energy and Utility Skills. Energy and Utility Skills is the Sector Skills Council for the gas, power, waste management and water industries. They work with employers to identify qualifications and training needs, develop (with training providers) relevant skill-based training programmes, maximise investment opportunities for the sector, undertake ...

Merit Skills gains CABWI approval

We are pleased to announce that we have gained CABWI Awarding body approval for our centre.

CABWI are the awarding body responsible for delivering national qualifications and in particular National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) to the water industry. Before any organisation can deliver CABWI qualifications they have to meet exacting standards which are confirmed by the awarding bodies extern...