Mick Curran, Director of Upright Access Systems, is a big believer in the importance of training for his scaffolders.

“I’d rather train people than poach them.”

Since founding Upright with his wife Jaine 20 years ago, Mick worked closely with EarnLearn to support dozens of apprentice scaffolders towards gaining their New Zealand Certificate in Scaffolding (Trade) (Level 4).

“Training is really important. It gives these guys a trade. Some of them might leave and go on to another company, but we’ll just get more in and train them up.”

One of the biggest rewards is watching the apprentices succeed and being able to hand them their qualification, he says. Some then go on to be supervisors and get a sense of satisfaction from passing on their knowledge and helping make sure their team is doing things right.

The support apprentices receive from EarnLearn is crucial to helping them succeed, he says, adding it is just one reason he keeps going back to EarnLearn for training, and why he recommends the training organisation to others.

“There’s always support for whatever we, or the apprentices need. You can tell EarnLearn really wants them to succeed. The communication is great, and if you need something you don’t have to hang around and wait for an answer.”

Scaffolding training has come a long way since Mick started in the industry himself, with a focus on getting the basics right and making sure people are suited to the work, he says.

“Back in the day it was called D.E.T. – deep end training. These days it’s a lot better and a lot slower pace. We really focus on learning the gear, learning how to lift, and get them used to climbing and working at height.

“If they get through that, then we’ll talk to them about doing an apprenticeship.
“Scaffolding is not for everybody. It’s hard work but if you can handle that and do the training, it’s really rewarding. At the end of the day, you look back at a finished job and think ‘wow, we did that!’”

For more from Mick watch this video that features Mick and Tom Williams TZL Scaffolding.