The pig industry needs accredited training

July 2004

To those outside our industry pig technicians are probably considered as low-skilled, manual workers working long hours for little reward.

Whilst it is true that there is a certain amount of drudgery and there are sometimes needs to work extended hours it is equally the case that working conditions within the pig industry, in many cases, more than match those of most other `blue collar' professions.

Additionally it is a requirement of farm assurance schemes to provide evidence of training, or demonstrate that staff are competent to practise. This is a trend that is developing. Further examples that training must be given are the Health and Welfare Strategy for the industry which includes a requirement that staff are trained as does the condition for obtaining a licence under IPPC regulations. Reference to the latter is, what many see as, a likely development along the route to a `licence to farm pigs'.

Few pig businesses would claim that they are as successful as they would like to be in respect of the recruitment and retention of staff. To be able to offer a structured career path may not solve all such problems but there is little doubt that it would assist in attracting people into the industry that, currently, are deterred by a lack of an obvious personal development pathway.

There are a complex of reasons for the low uptake of National Vocational Qualifications, (NVQs), and Apprenticeships of which NVQs are a major part.

Government dictat is likely to make this even less attractive as the imposition of extended periods of guided learning, so that Technical Certificates may be achieved, places Apprenticeships beyond the reach of those involved in `earning whilst they work'.

This `one size fits all' additional requirement for the achievement of Apprenticeships is designed to encourage those undertaking this route to move on into Further Education - whereas industry needs it as a stand-alone qualification for those wishing to gain accreditation for their abilities demonstrable in the workplace.

Another problem of placing Apprenticeships beyond the use of those in the workplace is that a source of training funding is, in effect, being removed.

So - if there is an obvious need for the industry to ensure that staff are trained and that clear formal recognition of their skills and abilities is important AND that existing qualifications are less than appropriate - what is the way forward?

Firstly a user-friendly qualification is needed. This must reflect the needs of the industry and ensure that it meets the requirements of any existing legislation. This is not likely to come from those who provide general agricultural training or some government department but will require that producers themselves become involved in the development. Better than waiting for bureaucrats to impose accreditation that is unpopular and, like NVQs, little used.

The NPA Producer Group has recently agreed to set up a Working Party to work with others in the development of new qualifications. These will seek to define accredited qualifications that meet the needs of legislation and farm assurance and offer a progression for staff to develop through from basic pig skills to unit management level.

Work has begun in the drafting of such accreditation with the National Proficiency Test Council, (NPTC), and it is likely that the assessment for these awards will be made by qualified persons from within the pig industry itself.

Training and accreditation has to come higher up the agenda of all pig businesses. Time must be allocated to ensuring that all involved in pigs can acquire the skills that are required and formal acknowledgment that these are practised. Funding to achieve this may not be too difficult to obtain but allocating time to undertake the training might remain an issue to be addressed.

Pig farming is not the only sector to find the allocation of time to training and achieving awards more problematical than the funding to do so. Government has just launched a scheme in six regions of the country to reimburse employers for time taken up undertaking formal training that leads to accreditation.

This allows employers to pay for additional staff or for staff to work longer hours to cover for the time lost. This approach might form part of a pan-pig industry grant bid for training funding and open the door to the adoption of accredited training that the whole industry would both recognise and benefit from. We need it.