Lantra Awards and the National Proficiency Tests Council (NPTC) are teaming up to improve training and assessment of chainsaw and related operations.
From April 2003, the Integrated Training and Assessment (ITA) award and NPTC’s independently assessed qualifications for professionals will be jointly badged by the two bodies to give a single identity. Registration arrangements are designed to help people access training with minimal bureaucracy.
The ITA will remain for the basic skills of chainsaw maintenance, cross-cutting and felling trees up to 200mm diameter for occasional users, while a single qualification route for professional users is being established, based on the NPTC model.
Lantra will provide training courses leading towards the new NPTC qualifications.
The changes, which are being submitted to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for accreditation, follow consultation by the two groups with industry.
