Having recently covered the new f gas course I was amazed at just how many companys send there engineers on the course from all different backgrounds , but with no refrigeration training what so ever. Thank fully the course I was on , people were told they could not complete the practical due to incompetence. ( how many training centres would do this i wonder ?? )
Anyway It did make it quite clear how little regard other trades have for refrigeration and was quite nice to see people struggling on the test rig. I may add there were people who were in the trade who could not set up oxy/acetyline, had no knowledge of OFN. etc etc.
The most hoffific thing for me was on returning to our office the stores was having a clear out. We uncovered various quantities of refrigerant in many bottles . Approx 60 kilo of r22 and mixes,etc.
I explanied to the firm what action needed to happen and the cost for reclaiming and destroying.
the awnser i got was " can you just let it go, thats what the last engineer used to do. what harm can it do? "
this came from a company director. Again not a fridge engineer, but they have been servicing and installing for the past 20 years . I have recently joined the company , I feel it puts me in a moral dilema working for people with no regard for the planet let alone the trade. This unfortunatly has been similar throughout my career . In nearly all my previous jobs the managment have been non refrigeration engineers, or have a lack of experience on the tools. Is it not about time there was mandatory training for all levels including managment and directors!!