On taking up my new position as president of BCAS at the end of November, I will continue to build upon the foundations of the society laid by my predecessors. Assisted by my fellow board members, my primary objective will be to raise awareness of BCAS among end users. I am particularly keen to promote to end users the benefits of choosing a BCAS member when it comes to providing, installing, servicing and maintaining their compressed air systems. 

By using a BCAS member, end users can feel confident that they are working with a professional, competent company. And at the moment there is an added advantage of choosing a BCAS member for their compressed air needs; end user customers of all existing BCAS members can benefit from free associate membership of BCAS, lasting until June 30 2015 and being worth £975. The offer is part of BCAS’ Insist on BCAS – Be Compliant and Safe scheme, which aims to make processes that use compressed air compliant, safe, more efficient and ultimately more profitable. The offer will provide these companies with a host of BCAS membership benefits, including discounts on training and publications, access to compressed air codes of practice and the opportunity to attend social events from the society’s active calendar. 

Growing the core membership base is of ongoing importance to BCAS and I hope that this offer can provide end users with an insight as to the value offered by BCAS and its members. By joining BCAS, compressed air companies can demonstrate their professionalism and competence, as well as their commitment to health and safety and best practice. Membership is by peer review and members must adhere to BCAS’ codes of conduct. Members can also choose to proactively participate in the BCAS AirSAFE register, which promotes credibility and proficiency of BCAS members as identified via customer feedback.

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In UK manufacturing, compressed air is almost as widely used as gas and electricity, yet there are no formal training programmes or accreditation schemes in place for service engineers installing and maintaining compressed air systems. This means some end users could be receiving poor advice, and safety could be being compromised – which is a real worry when you consider that compressors and the air they generate can pose health and safety hazards when incorrectly installed, used or maintained.

There are voluntary course available, however. BCAS leads the UK and Europe in specialist compressed air training, education and management and offers four courses; Safe Working with Compressed Air; a Certificate in Compressed Air System Technology; the Diploma in Compressed Air Management; and a Competent Examiner course for those involved in carrying out examinations in accordance with Written Schemes of Examination. 

The BCAS training courses come in a variety of accessible formats, but in response to the growing use of the internet, I will be more specifically concentrating on raising awareness of BCAS’ online courses, which offer more flexibility and convenience when it comes to learning. 

Energy efficiency is also something that will be top of my agenda for my two years in post. With energy prices remaining volatile and carbon reduction targets to consider, energy efficiency is a top priority for manufacturers. However, not all businesses realise that compressors and compressed air systems can have a big impact on utility bills and carbon emissions, so part of my task will be to promote to end users how correct specification, regular maintenance and appropriate use can all improve efficiency and where and how BCAS can help them with this.