Opening up our industry

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05 March 2020
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The Institute of Refrigeration is encouraging businesses to open their doors on World Refrigeration Day on June 26.

Announced by President Kevin Glass at the IOR's 120th Annual Dinner, the Open for Cooling initiative is designed to encourage refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump businesses to hold open days in manufacturing plants, cold stores, supermarkets or  offices. The aim is to give the public the chance to see the wide variety of career options and great value to everyday life that the sector offers.

To help businesses , the IOR will be providing support and resources such as promotional material, presentations, games, videos, health & safety templates. The IOR is encouraging businesses to sign up to the Open for Cooling campaign via a dedicated webpage and to make contacts with local schools and colleges to invite them in.

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As part of IOR’s work to raise awareness of the sector with young people, it recently held a Cool for School competition and some of the entries were displayed during the dinner. The winning entries can be viewed at the Fantastic Fridges website.

Improving training standards and supporting the next generation of RACHP Technicians through their training has been a significant area of work for IOR members over the past few years. Initially this involved developing a new government-recognised Apprenticeship Standard (known as the Trailblazer). As part of his speech, Kevin Glass advised that there are now 11 centres offering the Trailblazer Apprenticeships, with the first RACHP Engineering Technician Apprentices are expecting to graduate this summer.