coming up on this week's news electricians take a historic step closer to achieving professional
status a rail breaks out over the future of London's remaining gas lamps and entries are now
open for one of the most prestigious award events in the electrical industry welcome to electrical
news weekly in association with my energy whether you're listening in the van on site or down at the
wholesale counter I'm Joe Robinson and I've been through the best of the electrical industry news
to save you the trouble and as always if you think you've spotted the two words I've been
challenged to slip into today's Show comment them below for the chance to win a prize the
prize of professional status for electricians took a step closer this week with the news that
a proposed law is set to go before the Scottish parliament in the coming months the bill could
lead to the trade getting so-called protection of title this would put them on the same standing
as Architects and Gas Engineers it means that if passed it would be an offense for someone to call
themselves an electrician if they don't have the right qualifications the proposal is being pushed
by Jamie halcrow Johnston who is a member of the Scottish Parliament for the highlands and Islands
it has long been championed by the electrical contractors Association of Scotland select the
initiative will now be scrutinized by lawmakers and other experts the campaigners are upbeat about
the outcome because there's said to be a lot of support for the campaign across all the political
parties Fiona Harper the secretary of the Scottish joint Industry Board said that regulation of
electricians was an issue of Public Safety therefore the profession should be protected
by the full weight of the law campaigners in England and Wales believe that it will be easier
to push the case for professional status there if Scotland decides to regulate we'll keep you posted
of developments in the coming months meanwhile South of the Border the electrical contractors
Association has called on the government to cut levies and connection costs on electricity
generated through Green Technology this will boost installation work for the trade they say while
leveling the playing field seemingly Hypersonic energy price Rises uncertainty of supply AI and
slow uptake of Renewables are all holding the electrical trade back it says wholesale reform is
urgently needed now if we are to move towards net zero electricity that works for everyone and that
everyone can afford in other news the structural Timber association's latest guidance on robust
floors has included an eye joist for the first time eye joists are made from engineered wood
and are lighter than solid Timber they don't twist Bend or split now the new version of the
sta's pattern book for the construction of robust floors has included the eye joist from staircraft
its range achieves 30 minute fire protection and is deemed to be robust using just 12 and a half
mm plasterboard not 15 mm the best part about this for electrical contractors is that down
lights can be positioned anywhere in the floor as long as there is no more than one down light
per meter squared and they are no closer than 600 millimeters apart this is a massive Leap Forward
from the recent requirements so always check that the flooring system that your volleying lights
into is made by staircraft there's a choice of over 50 lighting Brands you can use with
staircraft floors you'll find some information in the show notes it's been revealed that false
alarms made up a staggering 98 percent of automatic fire alarm confirmed incidents
between April 2020 and April 2021 the home office report said that 90 percent of this figure is due
to faulty apparatus the study was collated from Fire and Rescue Services across the country and
shows that just two percent of the incidents from automatic fire alarms were a result of an actual
fire researchers say that most of the false alarms could easily be avoided with proper maintenance
and by ensuring the correct type of Life Safety product is installed for the environment in the
first place electricians and facility managers are also being warned this week to prepare for
the forthcoming ban on the most popular types of fluorescent lamp trade Association lighting
Europe says those responsible for lighting need to start preparing now for the axing of Workhorse
light sources such as T8 and T5 tubes next year Mercury containing T8 T5 and long life compact
fluorescent lamps will be banned from sale in the UK from September 2023. last year most compact
fluorescents as well as T2 and T12 lamps were axed lighting Europe said that now is the time
to work with a lighting expert to review your current lighting and plan your transition to LED
lamps we've made some very helpful videos on this very topic including one on converting traditional
fluorescence to energy saving LED tubes I've popped the links in the show notes now if you're
the kind of person who has no time for modern nonsense like non-fungible tokens prepare to
enjoy some mild outrage still on lighting a rail has broken out over the sustainability of London's
remaining 275 Victorian gas lamps Westminster city council is said to be exploring the viability of
converting its historic lamps to LED Advocates of the change argue that the lights are responsible
for significantly more carbon emissions than LED they also need a lot of expensive of Maintenance
and they could potentially be a threat to Public Safety as delays to repairs on the historic lamps
could impair the security of those using the streets after dark they say the LEDs could be
tuned to replicate the color of the gas leading the case for retention is the GMB Union which
represents the workers who maintain the lights it Advocates retaining the unique and Atmospheric
lighting as a tourist attraction and an integral part of the capital's Heritage it also believes
it's more sustainable GMB Chief Andy Prendergast told the press that with the potential to convert
them to hydrogen just around the corner such a decision would be a short-sighted attack on
our capital's Heritage he says that Central London gas lamps are part of our heritage
and every year thousands of tourists flock to see them many original gas lamps have already
been converted to LED Downing streets lanterns were converted in the 2000s one of the most
prestigious award events in the industry is now open for entries across a number of categories the
six Awards is all about acknowledging the incredible people and businesses that make
our industry amazing from the root to the fruit as last year we've got the same overarching
categories of business education and the fiercely contested 30 under 30 award recognizing the Bright
Young Talent that's moving the industry into the future this year we've added some extra rewards to
those categories including residential installer Building Services designer and wholesaler of the
year in the business category as well as training provider and Apprentice employer of the year in
the education category if you'd like to nominate a business or someone who you think is worthy of
winning in any of these categories then click the link in the show notes and get your submission in
and yes you can nominate your own business or even yourself if you like but don't delay as
entry won't be open forever we had an amazing time last week at Jaguar Land Rover Birmingham
seeing some of the 30 under 30 winners meeting up and networking with each other along with
some healthy competition on the go-karts in the afternoon I'll leave it up to you to guess who is
the slowest person around the track Hint it wasn't me that's it for this episode coming up this week
on our YouTube channel we've got some fresh q and A's on EVs and I'll be donning my flak jacket as
the ever controversial subjective bonding and earthing raise its ugly head again this time
we're looking at suspended ceiling grids also it's a live stream week so make sure you're tuned in
Wednesday at 8pm for all the usual fun games and Meaty chats including special guest appearances
from David Barnes from Knipex and social media Superstar electrician Ryan Davis who you may
know off of the Instagram and clip club and all that stuff if you think you know the words I've
smuggled into Today's Show pop your guests into the comments and we'll dig out a goodie bag prize
to the first to get the right answers last week's words were brouhaha and Malarkey and Paul Holmes
was the first person to guess correctly incredibly quickly as it happens I think we may be getting a
little too obvious with these now but anyway Well Done To You Paul click the link in the description
below to claim your prize thanks for listening to this episode of electrical news weekly in
association with my energy make sure you subscribe to receive the next update and until next time
have a great week stay safe out there and remember there's no such thing as a torque calibrated arm