Wendy Belfield appointed as member of industry competence committee

Wendy Belfield has been appointed on to the Industry Competence Committee (ICC), which has been set up by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to monitor and help to improve industry competence. Wendy is a member of the recently established Training and Skills Group, set up by the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA), a T Levels ambassador, and apprenticeship standard Chair.

ICC members are appointed in order to help the Committee act as an industry leader in promoting and facilitating an improvement of competence across the built environment, by providing direction and influence. The ICC will also publish guidance and advise industry and the Building Safety Regulator on industry competence.

As Commercial Director of InTandem Systems, Wendy has developed the company into a thriving BEMS specialist in the building services sector. She has also spearheaded the introduction of the BEMS Controls Engineer Apprenticeship for which she received the BCIA Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award in 2020.

As part of her voluntary work in the sector, Wendy has been promoting the key role of T Levels in starting the professional route to competence at 16. T Levels are occupation based qualifications for 16-19 year olds and include 45 days on industrial placement. Each T Level is equivalent in size to three A Levels and helps young people develop the knowledge, attitude and practical skills to thrive in the workplace. The FETA Training and Skills Group has been examining the way in which T Levels can help member companies work with colleges to recruit more young people into the industry in response to concern that attracting new talent into building services engineering remains a big challenge.

Equally, Wendy feels passionate about ensuring that experienced workers are able to verify their professional competence and is working with other trades within FETA to ensure experienced worker assessments (EWAs) are made available.

Wendy said: “I am very proud to be appointed on to the ICC which I believe can have a huge impact going forward as we look to close the skills gap within our industry whilst ensuring that professional competence is achieved. There is a massive skills shortage in a very competitive marketplace and it’s a massive challenge for our sector, particularly for SMEs.”

She added: “Building services engineering is not an obvious career path for many young people so we need to make it an attractive industry first and foremost and once we have got the new talent in we must make sure that the training is in place that will provide them with the skills needed to maintain and improve industry standards, as well as giving them a fulfilling long-term career that they can promote to other potential young engineers.”

FETA Chief Executive Chris Yates said: “I am delighted that Wendy has been appointed to the Industry Competence Committee. She has been instrumental within the Building Controls Industry Association and FETA in terms of developing the skills agenda and course development which has delivered huge benefits for the industry. I am sure she will make a solid contribution to the Committee with a strong industry and education background.”