Highways England has partnered with the Network Training Partnership (NTP) to develop a smart motorway training course for roadside recovery staff.
The ‘Smart Motorways Awareness for the Roadside Rescue and Recovery Industry’ course, which is the UK’s first course designed to offer comprehensive smart motorway training for recovery operatives, is fully compatible with the existing Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC), the standard qualification for recovery operatives and drivers of buses, coaches and lorries. It lasts eight hours over one day; and aims to provide roadside recovery professionals with the training and key skills necessary to formulate a safe, practical working plan when attending road traffic collisions and breakdowns.
Colin Stevenson, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Highways England, said: “The course has been developed specifically for roadside rescue and recovery drivers who use the motorway network and has been designed to aid practical, relevant training. Those completing the course will have a better understanding of the different types of smart motorways and how to formulate a recovery plan incorporating safe working practices when dealing with incidents on smart motorways.”
Mick Puleston, Vice President of the Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators (AVRO), said: “AVRO believes that training is key to providing staff with the work skills required to provide a professional image to the industry and applaud Highways England for embracing the recovery industry by introducing a training package specific to our work on the strategic road network which will be endorsed for the Driver CPC.”
The smart motorway training covers the primary responsibilities and best practice methods for roadside recovery operatives attending vehicles on smart motorways, including:
- Recovery operators should never attempt to recover a vehicle from a live lane on a smart motorway;
- Highways England is expected to offer support to recovery services by closing lanes and providing timely signage; and
- Highways England may direct traffic officers or request police assistance to augment the safety of roadside operatives.
Gary Tucker, Managing Director of the Network Training Partnership and PATAM (the Professional Automotive and Transportation Accreditation Matrix), said: “NTP was delighted to be chosen to design the smart motorways [Driver] CPC course. We have delivered training to over 3000+ delegates as part of our series of courses, many of whom work within the recovery industry. It is imperative that individuals attend this training to improve knowledge and safety of both the breakdown and recovery industry and the general public.”
