BPA YES/NO

[damuelson]

Our industrie needs a training platform weather its bpa or another but we need a qualification/ licence possibly insurance backed and in levels from shooting site labourer to full blown display director, it should cover in stages everything you need at that level giveing a more in depth knowledge of certain areas than a basic knowledge of every thing.

i am a basi qualified snow board instructor and work at a high level in the sport. I have been on many training coarses and run training courses, wich you can only do once you have passed certain qualifications and then been for interview with the training body. (basi) Its harder for you to teach snowboarding at a basic level in this country than it is to obtain insurance and a container full of high explosives.

By having a training scheme recognised and all crew members on it. show insurance would have to come down as there less risk for the insurance company

[webcatcher]

Yes the BPA or another body should be in place for the good of the industry.
The qualification should require a practical assessment, and periodical unannounced assessments whilst a firer is on site (at least 1 during the 5 years before expiry). I have been on shows with qualified members who have passed the theory, but can’t put it into practice. To put it in a nutshell when they place angle cakes pointing towards the crowd, or the fuse on the opposite side to the next sequence, so when hand firing they have to walk around the angle cake to get to the next one just shows total lack of sense and safety. (I can hear some of you saying that’s the job of the show senior operator to check for those things) yes it is but it still shouldn’t be happening. In all other jobs, exams NVQ ‘s etc there is an amount awarded from practical work.
This is not the be all and end all of a qualified firer, experience and knowledge of the products to be used along with being able to think on one’s feet to deal with those unexpected events that are always waiting to jump out at you.

[ChrisB]

Very much yes;

Even if you don't pass it's well worth the cost of the training just to rub shoulders & chat with other like minded and probably more experienced Pyros & learn tips and tricks etc. Plus, you will get a great chance to form useful contacts within the industry.

ChrisB