A new phone app is promising to eliminate most of the paperwork associated with training apprentices and the allocation of related funding support for South Australia’s construction industry.

In an Australian industry first, a new On Job Training Log Book will be rolled out across the South Australian construction industry from the start of July.

The new system, known as My Profiling, is being funded by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), which provides financial support to apprentices to help pay for their formal studies and the tradespeople who provide them with on-the-job training.

CITB chief executive officer Steve Larkins says My Profiling had been developed in Australia and had undergone a successful trial among employers and apprentices last year.

“Most tradies hate paper work and often they are not very good at paper-based record keeping or submitting forms in time,” he says.

“Paper log books often get dirty, forgotten, damaged and worst of all, just create even more paperwork.

“However log books are essential to prove apprentice competence and progression in our competency-based training system.

“Every tradie and apprentice has a mobile phone that is almost constantly in use, so making record keeping app-based is an ideal solution.”

Apprentices gain qualifications through a combination of formal study through trade schools such as TAFE and on-the-job training supervised by qualified tradespeople.

The hours worked on-the-job make up around 80% of the total time in training.

Mr Larkins said that the app-based Log Book would make the apprentice responsible for ensuring their hours were accurately logged and counted.

The app would be downloaded to the apprentice’s i-phone or android. The hours spent in on-the-job training would be entered by the apprentice, verified by the employer and is used by the registered training organisation in validating competency.

“This provides for accurate logging of work and allows trade school and employer to monitor progress. At the end of the apprenticeship, apprentices will have an experienced-based resume, which will be a great help in getting their next job,” Steve says.

“Making apprentices responsible helps them understand the importance of accurate record keeping.

“Without this assistance, many tradespeople could not afford to have apprentices, which would severely limit the number of new tradespeople in the future.”

The Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Hon Gail Gago has welcomed the initiative, which follows a recently announced review of red tape in the vocational education and training sector.

“I applaud this phone app as a good example of innovation and cutting red tape, both of which are in line with government priorities, and encourage apprentices and employers to try the new system,” she says.

South Australia currently has around 5800 apprentices in the construction industry, down from a high last year of 6500.

The CITB was established in 1993 by an Act of Parliament. It is industry owned, led and managed, and is funded by a levy on construction activity.

Its charter is to support apprentices and their employers, most of whom are small, often single operator businesses and group training companies.

Trades covered by the CITB include bricklaying and stone masonry, carpentry and joining, civil construction, concreting, electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning, plastering, glazing, painting and decorating, plumbing, roof plumbing, roof tiling, scaffolding, wall and floor tiling.

The new app will be available from the end of June.