2023 GWO Training Customer Satisfaction Based on Questionnaire
The Golden Week, which has been filled with sunny days across Japan, has come and gone, and we are sad that the next national holiday will not be until July 15. It has been hot and humid for mid-June, but I hope all of you are well and happy. As the weather gets hotter and hotter toward summer, it might be a good idea to take some “heat acclimatization” to prepare for summer fatigue (let’s make our bodies sweat more easily to acclimatize!).
Now, NSTC have complied the annual GWO (Global Wind Organisation) survey results and are ready to report to you.
Last fiscal year, 426 delegates joined GWO BST(Basic Safety Training) course and 123 delegates joined GWO BST refresher course.
To the question, “Was the training good overall?”, there was one response of “neither” and zero responses of “not so much” nor “no”.
We do not have opportunity to receive feedback directly from the delegates, so the questionnaire results and comments are very encouraging to us as training providers. We appreciate your compliments very much, but at the same time, we are also keenly aware of any suggestions for improvement that are not directly communicated to the instructors or staff, and we are working hard to make improvements in accordance with the suggestions.
Now, I would like to introduce some of the comments that impressed me and to which I can respond to.
①First, here is a comment on the training overall from those who have joined refresher course.
（Translation：In common with all training, I felt that there was too much emphasis on safety. I felt like I should have made mistakes during this training）
Reply comment form NSTC staff:
We occasionally receive comments like this from those who joined refresher training. Of course, we understand that this is due to the fact that they have experience in the worksite and feel that the training is not relevant to the worksite.
However, in the refresher training, based on the level of understanding of the delegates, we feel like we may consider show them how they can fail if they do this bad habit (to ensure safety, of course) in the lectures and practical skills.
For the 5-day-course (we call GAO BST), we have people who have never climbed WTG before, or people who joined the course to get certified even though they do not work in the real WTG environment. We are aware that the content of BST may be a bit too easy for those who have experience in the real site.
We are following the training standards set forth by GWO, but we would like to consider what we can improve in the future that does not deviate from the training standard.
① Next, I would like to share with you some of the comments we often receive regarding our training on working at heights.
Translation: In response to the question “Are there any points that could be improved in the training?”,
① I would like to train at higher height.
②I would like to train at an indoor facility.
(Translation：Working at height facility is a bit far away from the main facility and time spent travelling is wasted.)
Reply comment from staff:
We have received several similar comment about Working at Heights & Manual Handling training every year in our questionnaire.
NSTC did not offer GWO training when it established in 2011, and in 2014, when we approved by GWO for the first time in Japan, we added the working at height training facility outside of the building in our firefighting training facility. Due to the nature of the facility, it is located a bit far from the private residences, and delegates must gather our main office and then take 15 minute drive to the training facility.
Due to the various requests, we have decided to open a completely indoor working at height training facility in June, 2024, at right next to the main training center.
For those who are familiar with the previous working at height training facility, the training environment has improved considerably, so we believe that the course will be a fresh experience for them.
As for the details of the new facility, please look forward to more information on the NSTC website news article, which will be updated in the future!
In recent years, the number of training centers offering GWO training has been increasing in addition to NSTC, and we feel that the wind power industry is becoming more and more vibrant and that we must work harder! We are very excited to be able to offer this training, especially to those who have worked at various sites and may have some thoughts about how things were done at their sites. We would be glad if you would be willing to talk to us about the actual situation in your work site. The instructors may be difficult to talk to during training, but they may be surprisingly friendly if you talk to them actually when you can, such as during breaks
(Eri, Quality Management Section)
