What qualifications can help you in a drainage career?

Starting a career in the drainage industry can present you with a variety of professional opportunities and development pathways. Whether you are looking for a hands-on driving or engineering role, or an office-based administrative role, working within this exciting field presents all sorts of dynamic challenges and opportunities.

Because drainage work can be complex and technical, most roles will require certain specialist skills and qualifications in order to ensure that staff are able to handle all of the necessary responsibilities. Candidates who have obtained these credentials will therefore have a better chance of securing a role and progressing their career more quickly.

Here, we will explore some of the qualifications that will be most helpful to succeeding in a drainage career, as well as detail the support that Lanes Group can provide to help staff members to gain the credentials and skills they need to thrive.

Practical qualifications

OS19X Training

OS19X training covers all of the basics of analysing and assessing the conditions of pipes and sewers, and usually takes the form of a five-day course. This qualification is most useful for those who are applying to become CCTV surveying professionals, rig managers and quality controllers.

The course covers:

• The key features of the different categories of pipe sewer survey
• How to recognise and code structural conditions, construction features and service conditions, as well as how to analyse details from photographs and video
• How to use the continuous defect facility for coding

The OS19X course is designed for those with no prior experience. Alternatives that offer equivalent qualifications include the OS20X three-day course for piped drains and sewers, designed for those with previous experience, and the OS21X three-day course, which focuses on classifying brick sewer conditions.

High-Pressure Water Jetting Certification 

High-pressure water jetting certification is desirable for roles that involve handling high-pressure water jets and systems, which drainage companies like Lanes use to clear stubborn blockages from the pipes. The qualification is also useful for those supervising or managing staff using this type of equipment. 

The course covers health and safety legislation and all aspects of how to safely and effectively handle water jetting equipment, including operational procedures and surface preparation, common hazards and injuries, and the need for personal protective equipment. Once this course is completed, you will receive a Water Jetting Association (WJA) Certificate and ID Card, valid for 60 months.

Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Card

A CSCS card means you have had the relevant training and hold the necessary qualifications to safely work on a construction site. This training can be completed online, and covers essential health and safety information such as fire prevention, working at height, occupational health, and manual handling.

Confined Space and New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA)

This qualification means you will be accredited to work in confined spaces, which is useful but not essential for a number of drainage roles that may require working in close proximity to sewers and pipes.

WJA Blue and Red Code of Practice Training

These two codes of practice have been developed by the WJA to establish a clear reference point for correct water jetting practice, and are continually updated by the organisation to ensure they remain relevant.

The Blue Code relates to the use of high-pressure and ultra-high-pressure water jetting equipment, while the Red Code outlines rules for safe working and the use of water jetting in drains and sewers specifically. While there is no specific qualification attached to these codes, it will be necessary to receive training on both during your drainage career.

Driving qualifications

Because drain maintenance and repair work involves a lot of travel between sites, you will at least be expected to hold a full UK driving licence with no more than three penalty points. For driver/operator roles at Lanes Group, you will need an HGV Class 2/Category C licence, which enables you to drive vehicles weighing over 3,500kg with trailers up to 750kg.

Health and safety qualifications

IOSH Working Safely and Managing Safely Certificates

These two qualifications are offered by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the world’s largest chartered membership body for health and safety training. The Working Safely and Managing Safely qualifications are two of the most common and popular courses that IOSH offers.

The Working Safely module is an entry-level qualification offering a general foundation in health and safety basics, including defining hazards, improving safety standards and working safely on a daily basis. This can be completed in a day, either online or in person, through a multiple-choice quiz and a hazard-spotting exercise.

The Managing Safely module is a more advanced Level 2 qualification, roughly equivalent to a GCSE, and is aimed at those in positions of responsibility. It covers how to carry out risk assessments in accordance with safety legislation, manage common hazards in the workplace, measure safety performance across the team and investigate health and safety incidents, among other aspects. This is a three-day course, involving a question-based exam and a practical work-based risk assessment task.

NEBOSH National General Certificate

Provided by the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health, the National General Certificate is another of the most common and useful UK health and safety qualifications. It is a Level 2 qualification that takes around 10 days to complete, or between 80-120 hours of independent study.

The first unit, NG1 focuses on general management of workplace health and safety and its importance, while NG2 covers what should be included in a workplace risk assessment, including potential risks to physical and psychological health, and the safe use of equipment.

To attain this qualification, you will need to complete a four-hour open-book examination, and a practical examination consisting of a workplace-based risk assessment task.

Office-based qualifications

Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Level 3 Diploma

The AAT Level 3 Diploma in Accounting covers a range of essential accounting techniques and disciplines that can put you in good stead to succeed in an administrative role within the drainage sector. These skills cover various financial processes, including maintaining cost accounting records, advanced bookkeeping and the preparation of financial reports and returns, all of which are in high demand in the industry.

These courses can take six to 12 months, depending on the study method and course timetable. It will help you improve your business awareness, your knowledge of relevant tax processes and your understanding of the most vital accounting techniques.

CIPD Foundation Certificate in People Practice

Administered by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), this course covers the basic aspects of HR and leadership and development, all skills that are essential when working in administrative roles within a multidisciplinary drainage company.

The course takes between seven and nine months to complete, and will provide a grounding in business culture, people management, analytics principles and the core functions of HR. The qualification can be completed online, face-to-face or on a part-time basis, studying between two and 20 hours per week.

CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) Qualifications

Much of the back-office work in the drainage industry is focused on communications, both in terms of liaising with customers and clients, as well as helping your employer to communicate its messaging and brand information.

As such, having a CIM qualification in professional marketing and digital marketing can be a significant asset for office-based staff in this sector, as they will help you to offer a complementary set of comms skills that other applicants may not have. These courses can be taken online, allowing you to earn more responsibility within your role.

Learn more about Lanes Group’s training and development support

At Lanes Group, we are committed to supporting staff with their long-term professional development, upskilling employees and providing them with opportunities to gain new qualifications and knowledge over time.

As part of this, we provide in-house training and funding support for external courses to our workforce, both to help our existing staff to continue their development, and to ensure that new starters who do not necessarily have a background in drainage are able to get up to speed on what they need to know.

Our practical training and development support includes:

• Bespoke City & Guilds-accredited drainage engineer and CIPP pipe renovation courses
• Practical courses on high-pressure water jetting, street works and more
• WJA Blue and Red code of practice training
• The Igloo, a virtual reality training hub owned by Lanes Utilities at the CSC Centre in Slough, offering an immersive learning environment for sewer work
• Support for optional courses, including HGV Class 2 driving training and OS19X training

We also provide the following training for office-based roles:

• An NVQ in sales, admin and customer care through our training providers
• Hands-on training on our CRM and finance systems
• Institute of Leadership Management courses covering strategy formulation, HR, leadership behaviours and establishing team cultures
• Fully or part-funded courses including:
  • Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Level 3 Diploma
  • CIPD Foundation Certificate in People Practice
  • CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) Qualifications
  • HGV Class 2 driving licence

To find out more about the training opportunities we provide, please visit our training and development information page. If you are interested in looking for a role with Lanes Group, you can explore our jobs, or contact us here.