Isoleringsskolen

We received a visit from "The Insulation School " on March 19th. This is a program that we at StS-ISONOR have helped to establish and have a certain professional ownership of.

Visit from "The Insulation School

The topic of this case is the establishment and purpose of the "Insulation school," an educational program aimed at addressing the shortage of skilled insulators in Norway, especially after the invasion of Ukraine. The school offers training for both refugees and Norwegian job seekers, with the goal of providing them with the necessary skills to qualify for a trade certificate.

Summary

Background for the establishment: There is an increasing shortage of skilled insulators in the Norwegian labour market, especially in the industry and energy sectors, which has been exacerbated by the need to provide refugees with meaningful employment after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Collaboration for quality: The initiative has been developed in collaboration with Norsk Industri, NAV, Vestland County Municipality, and industry players to ensure quality in training and recruitment of participants.
Content of the education: The training follows the curriculum for the insulation trade and combines theoretical instruction with practical experience. Participants also receive Norwegian language lessons to effectively communicate in the work environment.
Visit and presentation: The students were given a tour of the facilities, where they learned about production and opportunities in the industry, as well as safety regulations. This visit helped to showcase the many career opportunities available within the trades.

Background of "The Insulation School "

The Norwegian labor market has long experienced a noticeable shortage of skilled insulators, especially in the industry and energy sectors. The need for qualified labor has increased in line with the growth in maintenance and new construction projects across the country.

After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there arose an acute need to offer meaningful and relevant employment for refugees who came to Norway. Many of these had backgrounds in technical professions but lacked approval or documentation of previous competence. This led to an initiative for a faster path to trade certification in industrial insulation – both as retraining and as a new career path.

The initiative was developed in close collaboration between employer organizations, Vestland County Municipality (VLFK), NAV, and industry players. Initially, the initiative was aimed at Ukrainian refugees, but it was quickly expanded to include other nationalities – as well as Norwegian job seekers who wanted to enter the industry.

Accurate recruitment

To ensure quality and accurate recruitment, several information meetings and interviews were conducted by NAV, in collaboration with insulation professionals from both StS-ISONOR and Beerenberg. These conversations helped to identify motivated candidates and ensure that participants received realistic insight into what the profession entails.

Through this collaboration, a comprehensive training program was established, with the goal of providing participants with professional competence, practical experience, and a real opportunity for a trade certificate – thereby contributing to meeting the industry's need for skilled labor.

Now we will get through this first year and see that both the content and the intention of the "Insulation school " meet the goal, and there will be evaluations afterward where we hope that this is something that will continue in the years to come.

A bit about the content of the education/program

The training essentially follows the curriculum for the insulation trade and combines theoretical instruction with practical training. Participants receive a thorough introduction to various aspects of the trade, including technical insulation of pipes, ducts, and equipment within industry and construction, selection and use of insulation materials, cladding, fire protection, and energy efficiency.

Health, safety and the environment

In addition, training is provided in health, environment, and safety (HSE), material understanding, drawing and documentation, as well as relevant tool and equipment use. Furthermore, Norwegian language lessons are provided to help students who are not proficient in the language reach at least a B1 level, enabling them to communicate in projects at companies and, most importantly, ensure they understand safety information for their own and their colleagues' sake. The trade certificate exam, both theoretical and practical, will also be conducted in Norwegian, both written and oral, making this Norwegian language training essential for this collaboration.

Hands-on training

Practical training takes place both in a workshop environment and through work on realistic models, so that participants gain a solid understanding of work processes before they go out into practice. After an initial period of theory and basic skills, several participants are placed with companies participating in the project – such as StS-ISONOR and others. Here, the students gain valuable work experience in real projects, while being followed up by professionals in both school and company.

Trade Certificate

Through this combination of school-based and company-based training, participants are facilitated to qualify for a trade certificate as an insulator – either through the regular route or as practice candidates. The goal is for participants to become permanently employed in a profession where there is a great need for competence, while the industry gains access to new, motivated workers.

The visit

We welcomed the students and showed them around our facilities. We started in the office, before taking a tour down to our production area where we produce our easyFLEX products (Lambda). Here, our insulation specialist, Jan Cato Larsen, showcased our various products and their properties.

Then we walked over to our central warehouse, and further up to our prefab workshop where the students got to touch and feel the materials while receiving an introduction to what is produced in the workshop.

Finally, we took them up to our training center. Norway's most authentic training center! Here they received an introduction to the regulations that apply to working at heights and scaffolding work.

We concluded in the classroom where real Bergen skillingsboller, while they received a presentation of our company. They watched films of work operations to get a better insight into how the work is actually carried out on site.

They also heard from several of our employees about what it is like to work in the industry, particularly with our ISS subjects. It was important for us to highlight that there is a sea of opportunities in the industry. We did not only talk about the Oil and Gas industry, but also the Construction and Renewable industries.

This seemed to make an impression on several of the students, and we are incredibly happy that this program has been established.

The industry lacks resources and needs students to receive the necessary information about the opportunities available if they choose vocational education.

During the visit, we covered the following: