WJA courses go digital in sustainability and security boost
New digital training certificates launched by the Water Jetting Association will boost sustainability and give users of water jetting services the opportunity to check operative courses in the field.
The new system replaces the issuing of hardcopy certificates and gives both water jetting contractors and service users greater assurance that an operative’s courses are up to date and valid.
A QR code printed on every new digital PDF certificate can be scanned to gain access to a course validation portal to instantly check the identity of the certificate holder and courses held.
Big advantages
Darren Hamilton, Chairman of the Training and Safety Committee at the WJA, said: “The new system for issuing training certificates delivers big advantages in terms of sustainability, costs reduction and training assurance.
“Issuing digital certificates instead of hardcopy ones will save a lot of time for WJA administrators and training providers alike, as well as reducing resources consumed and cutting our carbon footprints.
“It is also much quicker, so we can be more sure water jetting contractors will receive confirmation of their operatives’ courses in a timely way, helping them plan their work schedules efficiently and effectively.
“Also, thanks to the QR code and certificate verification system, everyone involved in the water jetting industry now has a new way to instantly confirm the status of courses held.”
Verify courses
The WJA is the member organisation for the UK water jetting industry and is, by far, the UK’s largest water jetting training provider, with more than 7,000 certificates issued every year for its City & Guilds accredited courses.
A WJA course can now be verified by scanning the QR code with a mobile device and entering the operative’s unique WJA registration number and surname into the portal.
The operative’s photograph, name, WJA courses and the expiry date of the Safety Awareness course held by the operative are shown on the screen. The Safety Awareness course must be refreshed every three years for a WJA water jetting operative’s card to be valid.
The WJA will still continue to issue each water jetting operative with a WJA card in hard copy format as these are often required to be shown at customer worksites. It is now looking to add the verification QR code to the these card as well.
Time saving
WJA General Manager Leanne Smith said the new digital certificate system is a positive step forward that has been welcomed by water jetting training providers.
She added: “Going digital makes processing and issuing certificates quicker and easier for everyone involved in the training process. It also releases a lot of time for us to do more value-added work on behalf of WJA members.”
Val Perrin, of North West Training Academy, a WJA training provider, said: “The WJA’s new digital certificates are a great idea. They’re going to save us a lot of time and are aligned with the requirements of the companies we provide training for.”
The digital certificates are held by WJA training providers who fill in course details for successful training candidates. They are then sent to the WJA office where the details are checked and added to the WJA training database.
The certificates are then locked by the WJA, so they cannot be amended, and returned to the training provider to issue to clients.
Find out more
Do you need water jetting training, including pressure washing training? Talk to the WJA today about its City & Guilds accredited courses – with digital certification.
Telephone: +44 20 8320 1090. Email: info@waterjetting.org.uk