Page 20 - Climate Control News - July 2018

In Focus
Breaking boundaries to revatilise the RAC trade
THIS YEAR'S GUEST JUDGE FOR THE 2018 HVACR LEADERSHIP AWARDS IS STEPHEN SMITH, A LONG STANDING INDUSTRY VETERAN WHO IS CERTAINLY WELL KNOWN TO THE RAC TRADE.
AS THE HEAD RAC teacher at western Sydney TAFE, Smith, is a great fit for this year's CCN Live event theme 'Breaking Boundaries' as he is ac- tively involved in the current review to overhaul RAC training and has spent decades teaching young apprentices.
This gives Smith a first hand understanding of many of the issues facing the trade today. And there isn't just a few issues to address there are many.
“There are so many challenges facing the RAC trade right now its impossible to list just a few and the issues are pretty complex,” he said.
But Smith believes the single biggest issue that needs to be addressed is the problem of invisibility.
“Mums and dads across the nation do not know that the RAC trade exists. In my opinion this is the single biggest issue we need to ad- dress,” he said.
“If we can raise public awareness about the trade I believe a lot of other problems will disappear.”
Smith is not alone in his assessment which is why TAFE, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia, the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association (RACCA) and other sections of in- dustry have been studiously working behind the scenes to address this problem.
The results of their hard work will be shared with participants at CCN Live on October 11, 2018. “Society doesn't value our trade, actually they don't even value apprenticeships any-
more,” Smith said.
“This is one reason why employers are unable
to attract apprentices and wages are spiralling upwards as a result.
“The world needs to know that we build and maintain the machines that keep them comfort- able, keep their food fresh and ice-cream frozen.
“Many apprentices move between a number of employers each year, the apprenticeship mecha- nism appears to be broken.”
“IF WE CAN RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS ABOUT THE TRADE I BELIEVE A LOT OF OTHER PROBLEMS WILL DISAPPEAR.”
- WESTERN SYDNEY TAFE HEAD RAC TEACHER, STEPHEN SMITH
While loyalty seems to be low on the priority list with resignation by SMS increasingly com- mon, Smith said changing technology is also having an impact.
“Most of the new entrants to this trade have no experience in the use of simple hand tools,” he said. “There is a massive gulf forming between the latest technologies being introduced into new in- stallations and the ability of the RAC technician
to maintain it.
“Older generations of RAC technicians are typ-
ically proud of their ability to fix things, to diag- nose faults and repair them.
“This art is disappearing as smarter ma- chines enter the market and only need a
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