More emphasis needed on training and development

Body shops need to put more emphasis on training and development, according to David Lingham, who works in the collision repair industry in UK and Europe. Lingham told delegates at the 10th annual CARSTAR conference held in Niagara Falls, Ont., that repairers in the UK do not fully understand the difference in technology and structure between different makes of vehicles and are therefore not repairing them correctly. Its an accident waiting to happen, he said. Its a common belief in the UK that if a mechanic is not in the shop because he is off-site training, then money is being lost, Lingham said. In Germany, staff is constantly being sent out for training, but in the UK there is no emphasis on this, because the emphasis instead is on making money.A new campaign is being proposed in the UK in an effort to get our house in order, Lingham said. If approved, part of the process would include a vehicle passport a detailed log about the car. If someone is killed in an automobile accident and it turns out that a car was not repaired properly, under the new proposal the repair shop will be held responsible. Penalty could range from a fine to jail time and the embarrassment of revealing to stakeholders, suppliers and customers that the shop is guilty of corporate manslaughter.