Coming up on this week's news the ECA has slammed classroom electrician courses as a waste of money  the trade is warned over death trap telescopic ladders and we meet the blind electrician  who fixes appliances for a living welcome to Electrical News Weekly whether you're listening in  the van on site or down at the wholesale counter I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best  of the electrical industry news to save you the trouble and if you think you've spotted the two  words that I've been challenged to slip into this week's show comment with them below for the chance  to win a prize in an unusually strongly worded statement the Electrical Contractors Association  has this week slammed classroom electrician courses the trade body said they were a waste  of money far from increasing the supply of entrance to the profession the association  believes that FastTrack classes could be pushing potential electricians away and making the skills  Gap even worse the ECA's operating Chief Andrew Eldred said that only one in 10 of the 23,000  people a year who enrol on the courses progress onto apprenticeships the numbers in classroom  based courses far outweigh the numbers starting apprenticeships in London the ratio is eight  youngsters in classrooms compared to one learning on the tools Eldred says that the young people are  being mis-sold that the classroom is the route to becoming an electrician and the taxpayer is  helping to subsidise the courses to the tune of £70 million annually that's £38,000 for every  learner who becomes an apprentice Eldred questions how that spending can be justified he's calling  for the money spent on the college courses to go into vocational training this could include the  apprenticeship standard the cash could be used to pay tutors and assessors on the course CL closer  to an electrician's rate of pay for example the money could also go towards adult NVQs most of  which are self-funded the ECA says the industry needs 12,000 newly qualified electricians every  year to meet booming demand what was your route to becoming a spark did you find classroom learning  worked for you let us know in the comments below and speaking of learning our last question of the  week suggests that perhaps people have been listening through whichever path they took it  was taken from our second free training package on electrical design made in association with  the good folks at BG and asked the question if the adiabatic equation from regulation 543.1.3  of BS7671 results in a non-standard size of protective conductor what should you do the  correct answer of course is to select the next conductor size up and after what's been quite a  dispiriting couple of weeks we're back on top form now with 81% of people getting it right on YouTube  and LinkedIn respondents really are on a roll now 93% got it right over there just incredible  work folks well done although I suspect the 4 and 2% who suggested we just install whatever's  on the van just trying to get a rise out of me hopefully anyway there's plenty more info in  that training package from BG so click the link in the show notes to find out more and remember  there is zero tariff attached to that training course it is completely free of charge in other  news a stark warning has gone out to electricians this week over the dangers of telescopic ladders  it follows a survey which found that 8 out of 10 don't meet basic safety standards and could  be considered death traps crucially many fail the official standard EN131-6 and currently the  the office for product safety and standards has product safety reports for no fewer than 48 makes  of telescopic ladders all bar one were deemed to represent a serious risk of injury five of them  were recalled from the market completely now the Ladder Association is alerting the trade  about the warning signs of a perilous product it says watch for either a CE or UKCA Mark these  are a giveaway because they're not valid for ladders also check that ladders which extend  to over 3 Metres in length have a wider base to improve stability this is a requirement certified  models also feature locking mechanisms that secure all the rungs simultaneously avoid ladders where  you have to lock each individual rung and only by a ladder that is certified to EN131- 6 finally  check that the manufacturer has a UK or EU address the Ladder Association has a list of reputable  brands on its website and I've put the link in the show notes you'll also find there a link to  a free training package on the subject of health and safety which includes a section on both site  access and working at Heights that include the safe use of ladders still on safety the danger  of fire from appliances is being highlighted again this week it comes hot on the heels of  our story earlier this month where we revealed that a coroner has written to hot point following  a blaze in London grandmother and her disabled son perished in a house fire in Edgware in London  coroner Peter Straker says it was caused by an electrical fault in one of the Brand's Whirlpool  tumble dryers he has written to hot point with his conclusions and requested that the company respond  with its proposals and a timeline for Action now the Electrical Safety First charity has revealed  that there were more than a thousand electrical fires involving white goods reported in England  last year the average Insurance claim is almost £37,000 with one at a whopping £290,000 more than  half of the claims related to fires caused by tumble dryers and almost a quarter were due to  dishwashers it says the trade should check for damaged cabling and overloaded extension leads  the charity has even created a short film to hammer home the message to householders it  stars Doctor Who actress Lili Miller and explores how the dangers in our homes aren't always obvious  I'll pop a link to the trailer in the show notes it's pretty powerful stuff actually and really  gets the message across starkly definitely worth a watch that one in Product News this week Kosnic  has unveiled a fire rated downlight pre-wired with a Quickwire plug and socket as the name suggests  Quickwire is a super Speedy way to connect you just strip the twin and Earth and push it into  the socket screwless push fit terminals for an instant connection so how quickly could you  install one well my colleague Gary did it in an incredible 10.2 seconds not bad for someone who's  not a proper spark these days that's a bit cringe script writer Ray you're trying to get Gary and I  to fall out anyway don't believe that he did do it that quickly check out his short video  the links in the show notes now the big question is can you beat him post us your videos as we'd  love to see your install times and we might be able to dig out an eFIXX goodie bag for the  fastest time while we're on lighting we'd like to welcome brand new ENW sponsor Signify to the show  we've teamed up to bring you a massive deal on products purchased through the LumXpert app or  website this tool has been specially created for electrical installers and it brings together all  the necessary tools for day-to-day tasks such as quotes lighting calcs ordering and tracking you  can find Phillips and Ecolink lighting Products by type or application and order from your usual  wholesaler you can also create exportable lighting calculations to share with your customers it gives  you direct access to manufacturer experts via WhatsApp for support with product selection  installation and after sales service it's convenient accessible on both the web and a  mobile app and allows you to place orders anytime anywhere with delivery in just 24 to 48 hours  and the very best thing is that if you enter the order code eFIXX30 you'll get a massive  30% discount across the entire signify LumXpert portfolio which includes both Philips and Ecolink  products you won't find a better discount code anywhere else so click the link in the description  and make your life easier and cheaper now we turn to big news for anyone who has installed Swarm  Smart Home Technology the company has ceased trading its big seller was the Hub one energy  manager which connected to solar hybrid inverters EV chargers and battery packs company boss Anthony  Piggott made the announcement on social media with he said a heavy heart the company website  is currently down and it's not clear if the products will continue to be supported with  tech updates Labgear has unveiled a phone battery pack especially for the trade the ruggedised power  bank has an IP rating of IP67 and a stunning 10,000 milliamp hour capacity that means it can  charge the average phone three times over you can get your mitts on one at the Elex show in Bolton  on the 6th and 7th of March Gary and Gordon will also be there so make sure you go and say hello  now Welcome to our new electrical news weekly feature where we focus on a specific product area  this week we're quite literally shining a light on emergency lighting standout new kit include  Kosnic Neka which turns any light fitting into an emergency one it consists of a piece of control  gear and a sticky pad with a green indicator LED and a one Watt white LED for emergency  illumination again Gary was one of the first to show how quickly a conversion can be done check  out his video in the notes Kosnic really have been smashing with Innovations in recent years  if you missed it UK company boss Wentao Kuang joined us earlier this month on eFIXX TV he was  a top sport and even took on the electrician challenge wall it's a great watch again the  link is in the notes another piece of Kit we love here at eFIXX is the Adler Exit Sign from Ansell  that's because it has no fewer than five mounting options it's got push fit terminals and you can  fix the sign for an angle between 90° and 180° the best bit is that you can rotate the arrow  Legend to whatever direction is required by the location and the Escape Route Spanish brand Zemper  has unveiled a dedicated emergency light for a range of applications the Spazio plus helps reduce  installation time because you can have incredible 30m spacings in offices and 26m in corridors you  can also put in special lenses for locations like Escape Routes and I made a video on that  one so check that out that's our electrical news weekly Roundup of products we think deserve some  attention next week circuit protection and finally an electrician is earning a good living fixing  electrical appliances but this is no ordinary spark for Yusmel Fernández is blind his colleagues  and friends in Cuba say his story proves that limitations are no barrier to success 49-year-old  Fernández has his own repair shop there he relies on his hands which he says have become his eyes  with a Simple Touch he can identify the brand and models of appliances memorises circuits  and detects faults with astonishing Precision to check that they're working he's developed  his own sound based device so far he hasn't had an appliance returned to him after repairing it what  an uplifting story before we go a shout out to Core Heating and Electrical Solutions in Bristol  the company is celebrating 40 years in business congratulations to Lee Wilshire and the team  and here's to the next four decades now our usual reminder that we're in the market for your stories  your projects and your recommendations as we'd like to share them with the wider eFIXX community  over the next few weeks we'll be featuring circuit protection EV chargers and Wiring Accessories so  send us pictures of your installs or let us know if you've come across any new kit that's  making your job easier or any products that you think deserve a shout out and just before  we get to your favourite bit of the show where I revealed last week's challenge words and winners  we want to thank our Premium Partners we couldn't make the news without you first up they're the  people who've created the Swiss army knife of solar inverters along with all weather batteries  very much the Boy Scout of the solar industry it's Sunsynk and speaking of solar with manufacturing  powered by a massive 250 megawatt solar PV array they're literally the greenest test instrument  maker in Europe both physically and ethically it's KPS are you a bit of a control freak motor control  that is if so with huge stocks and excellent service check out Crompton Controls as they  said to me in a recent conversation if we don't have it then we can build it with their new award  winning Lumo consume unit and offering Complete product support from their highly train team  it's CPN Cudis please don't forget to use the code eFIXX30 to claim your 30% discount on top quality  light fittings from Phillips and Ecolink download LumXpert app today and make your life easier and  less expensive it's the light of our eyes signify and the best thing to come out of Yorkshire since  stainless steel the home of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality products it's Doncaster  Cables click the links in the show notes to find out more about all of these great Brands  big thanks to you all we really appreciate your ongoing support for the news if you think you know  the words that I've smuggled into this week's show pop your guess into the comments we'll take all  the correct guesses and select one at random to be the winner of an eFIXX goodie bag prize answers  submitted after about lunchtime on the Thursday after release will not be entered into the draw  now let's reveal the winners of last week's challenge word competition last week's words were  Crestfallen and geek which pretty much describes me every time a new Star Wars film is released  so many of our regular winners got it right last week I thought that we were going to struggle to  find a new prize if Mark just Mark wins a couple more times we might just have to give him I don't  know Joe 3P0 as a prize or something anyway it hasn't come to that just yet because the  person to be selected from our electronic hat this week was first-time winner D Mosley 7671  Anyone who puts a reference to the regs in their username is not messing around and deserves to  win a prize so well done to you make sure you click the get involved Link in the show notes  to claim your prize thanks for for listening to this episode of electrical news weekly make  sure you subscribe to receive the next update thanks for listening and until next time have  a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm