Recently in Australia a group calling itself the National Auto Glass Association has been formed. It would appear it is the equivalent to your Auto Glass Safety Council here in US.

Our AGA is run by national corporate windscreen repairers who claim they are forming to give the auto glass industry a voice. This includes the smaller independent companies.

Since your council has been in place for a longer period, I thought this may be good idea to see what the general thoughts were about such a group. Has the industry changed for the better as a result of your Auto Glass Council?

Thanks in advance

Service 8 ® Windscreens
www.service8windscreens.com.au

Wll then you need to look at everything they are doing. A company-wide certification program call Registered Members, development of the auto glass standard, technician certification and training. It's one thing to have an opinion, but please know what you are talking about. I have been part of AGSC/AGRSS since the beginning and it is very, very worthwhile for our shop and for our business.

Sorry but it's a joke. There's nothing wrong with the standards, but registered shops are still doing hack jobs and endangering lives. We police ourselves and if I spend money it will go to my installers, not an organization that cannot verify that registered shops are playing by the rules at all times.

Again I have to go with mr. smiley. The standards? really? The only thing that stood out of this fiasco was installers should wear stupid little blue gloves to not contaminate the frit band. WOW! THAT IS HUGE! how about those of us who do NOT install with less than 2 installers and do not touch the frit band because we have proper cups so 2 installers can set and never touch the primered area. And right now let's address the issue of PRIMERLESS! THAT SHOULD BE HUGE RIGHT THERE! And the council does not have the gonads to address the facts. Not to mentions the shops THAT ARE REGISTERED WITH THE SAFETY STANDARDS COUNCIL, and yet still use the SHORT CUT METHOD? Plus the council has never addressed the major problems associated with MOBILE SERVICE. Let's install in any and all conditions unless lightning is going to kill the installer.

So lets talk about that frit band,, let's see ah, encapsulation contamination, and contamination from china so we can scuff all frits. That good for nothing council addresses NOTHING. They are a feel good about themselves and stays as far away as possible to the REAL issues. Am I a weeee bit strong here on the issues?

Good luck to you in your area but it may be all smoke and mirrors and a TOOTHLESS TIGER!

Good point. If they were serious about safety they would insist on 2 man sets. The only reason to not use 2 man sets is to save money. And they know shops won't sign up if 2 man sets are required, so again money, not safety is the issue. How sad.

I tend agree with the points you guys have raised and I feel that a massive conflict of interest could occur with the Australia Group, even at this early stage. I might add we are not a member, we just sit on the fence.

Proposals of certifications are on the agenda and although we are all for increasing our skill level, we are unsure the proposed basic courses will have little or any benefit for an experience technician. For example, for a technician with 20 years experience to go back to school to learn the fundamentals all over again just to obtain a certification is pointless and unnecessary, not mention the expense.

In my personal opinion it is not certifications that prevent technicians from taking short cuts, its consequences. If windscreen techs were dismissed for taking shortcuts then I am sure it would happen less.

I wonder how the the AGA Directors would react if they had to go back to school to complete a fundamentals of business management. Not sure it would be so welcome.

Is your Council in the US independent? Since our AGA is run by the corporations who are in direct competition with the independents they are claiming to want represent. All seems a little confusing to me.

May I suggest that if Belron is involved in any way what so ever that you fight it with all you can muster.

The Auto Glass Safety Council is a certification group that has set "standards" that are supposed to apply to all auto glass installations.

It sounds more like your new association is more like the National Glass Association (NGA)was years back, when the association worked for the interests of the auto and flat glass dealers.

Unfortunately, the NGA does not seems to have the same goals it had when there were a lot more small auto glass chains and the industry was not "under the thumb" of the insurance companies through the third party administrators that they now use.

The association can do a lot of good, if it truly represents the interests of the shops