Extractive industry first for Mentor

MENTOR has become the first training organization to be successfully accredited by EMP Awarding Body Ltd to provide plant training in the extractive and mineral-processing industry. Operating from its bases in Chesterfield and Bromsgrove, the organization provides nationwide operator training on workplace transport, employing over 150 training professionals and providing 25,000 training days per annum.

EMP, the awarding body for NVQ and SVQ work-related competence-based qualifications in the quarrying industry, took over the responsibility for training programme accreditation from Epic Training & Consulting Services in May 2007.

Expressing her delight at issuing the first accreditation to Mentor, Carol Pillinger, director of EMP, said: ‘Mentor have worked extremely hard to ensure that both the training programmes and assessment processes submitted reach the high standards required by this industry. The accreditation scheme helps to ensure that accredited training contributes to the proof of competency required by the Quarries Regulations 1999.’

Mentor became involved with the quarrying industry following numerous requests from existing customers who had been impressed by the training services provided for operators of fork-lift trucks, tele-handlers, access platforms etc.

Richard Shore, managing director of Mentor, explained: ‘These same companies urged Mentor to develop equivalent quality training programmes, customer service support and professionalism for the larger items of plant used within the quarrying industry. A separate ‘Mentor Extractives’ division now exists within the company, which is led by experienced industry professionals and the early results have been hugely encouraging.’

The Mentor training courses for wheel loaders, excavators, dumptrucks, skid-steers and tele-handler lift trucks are now being mapped to EMP-NVQ’s, which means any individual taking the operator training course will be automatically contributing to their NVQ at the same time.