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PLUMBING CONNECTION
WINTER 2016
BACKFLOWPREVENTION IN THE
EVERYDAY WORLD
I
recently attended the World Plumbing Day breakfast
hosted by the Master Plumbers’ Association of
Queensland. The event has undoubtedly become one of
the plumbing industry’s ‘must attend’ functions of the year.
Penny Cornah, the executive director and her team work
hard on the smallest of details to ensure the day is relevant
and informative for all in attendance.
With over 350 people in attendance, including the
Queensland Premier and a number of her Ministers,
opposition politicians, union officials and VIPs, the breakfast
continued to promote the message that a plumber is not
just a tradesperson but a frontline health professional.
Can someone tell me then, why we still don’t have a
mandatory national continuing professional development
programme for plumbers?
Other front line health professionals must regularly take
steps to ensure their skills are kept up-to-date so when
you consider a plumber can hold a license for 30 years and
have no mandatory requirement to upskill, the image of a
professional is shattered.
Now relate this to backflow prevention and cross
connection control. Backflow is a result of a cross
connection in the drinking water supply system. This is
usually within a private piping system whereby the owner
unknowingly connects the drinking water to a contaminant,
most likely to be a hose type connection.
As a layman, the concept of cross connection control and
backflow prevention is something I assume every plumber
understands, so I find it reprehensible that the plumbing
apprenticeship only refers to backflow prevention in a
module related to irrigation. It is referenced in only one
module during a four year apprenticeship.
We are talking about something that has the potential
to cause death should a backflow incident occur when
hazardous substances are mixed with drinking water.
I applaud the forward thinking regulators in each state
that introduced the requirement for plumbers to hold an
endorsement to their plumbing license for testing and
servicing backflow prevention devices, but we must ensure
the tradesperson’s skill is current and relevant to today.
Queensland has legislated that the backflow tester must
revalidate his backflow prevention endorsement every five
years but while we don’t have this requirement in any other
state, the only alternative is for a focussed continuing
education programme which is backflow specific.
The Backflow Prevention Association of Australia Inc.
has introduced a voluntary CPD programme which will
PETERMCLENNAN
REFLECTS ON THE RECENT WORLD PLUMBING DAY AND ASKS SOME QUESTIONS OF THE
INDUSTRY AND THE CONTINUAL LACK OF EDUCATION, AT THE APPRENTICESHIP STAGE, IN BACKFLOW PREVENTION.
I FIND IT REPREHENSIBLE THAT
THE PLUMBING APPRENTICESHIP
ONLY REFERS TO BACKFLOW
PREVENTION IN A MODULE RELATED
TO IRRIGATION.
BACKFLOW PREVENTION
PETER MCLENNAN