National Highway Sector Scheme 19A appoints training administrator

The committee responsible for National Highway Sector Scheme (NHSS) 19A has announced the appointment of the Institute of Corrosion as training administrator for the scheme.

National Highway Sector Schemes are quality management schemes that provide a bespoke interpretation of the ISO 9001 quality management system standard for organisations working on UK transportation infrastructure.

Sector scheme 19A addresses the corrosion protection of ferrous materials by industrial coatings. The role of the training administrator will be to review and approve training schemes that enable people to be trained and certificated in coating application and coating inspection.

This will mean that the work associated with the application of protective coatings to steelwork in transportation structures is undertaken and inspected by properly trained and competent personnel.

Under the new arrangements skills cards issued by training schemes approved and registered by the training scheme provider will bear the NHSS 19A logo demonstrating that the training meets the sector scheme’s requirements.

Existing skills cards issued by registered training schemes will continue to be accepted until the expiry date shown on the card. Personnel certificated under the new arrangements will receive skills cards direct from the training providers, bearing the NHSS 19A logo and the Institute of Corrosion Crest.

Stephen Hankinson, Chair of the committee said: “The introduction of a training administrator is a significant change for the scheme and the committee was delighted to have been able to appoint the Institute of Corrosion to this important role. Moving forward the introduction of additional training providers will be a further change and this can only be of benefit to the scheme and the industry”.

Chris Atkins, Chair of the Institute of Corrosion’s Professional Development and Training Committee added: “This is a great step for the coating industry, the Institute of Corrosion and asset owners. It provides a clear vision for the future of corrosion protection to steel assets.”