260 First bus and coach technicians gain irtec licenses 09 August 2012

First has revealed that 260 of its bus and coach employees around the UK have been taken through the irtec (Institute of Road Transport Engineers Certification) engineer licensing scheme.

All achieved either Inspection Technician or Advanced Technician status.

The news follows the bus and coach operator's decision to roll out a programme aimed at licensing all its vehicle examiners under the scheme just 10 months ago.

John Bickerton, technical standards manager, First UK Bus, likens the certification to insisting that all gas fitters are CORGI registered.

The fact that all of First's vehicle examiners now have irtec licenses guarantees that they all meet accredited professional standards, he says – meaning that all First's vehicles are maintained to the highest possible standards.

"As a company we felt it was incredibly important for us to invest our resources in this process," explains Bickerton.

"Our vehicle examiners are responsible for carrying out the 28 day inspections on our buses, checking that they are roadworthy and making sure that any potential problems are spotted and dealt with," he continues.

Bickerton makes the point that First's newest vehicles are much higher tech than their earlier counterparts, so getting irtec licensing was key to addressing any issues.

"Rolling out the irtec licenses gave us the opportunity to assess and certify that our employees had the required knowledge to diagnose and fix the underlying causes of problems and breakdowns on these complex and expensive vehicles," comments Bickerton.

To date, 163 of First's vehicle examiners have received their licences, with the remaining 97 due to get the paperwork in the coming weeks and months.

Author
John Challen

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Society of Operations Engineers

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