Ingredients:

• One property awaiting structural repairs
• H & S trainer
• Equipment and supplies to mock up H & S situations
• Enthusiastic participants

Here at the Trust training has moved out of the classroom!

One of the Trust’s properties, with little immediate prospect of coming back into use due to structural problems, has been used for six months by us as a Health and Safety House.

Here, training for our trades teams and contract managers has been carried out in a real  life environment.

The main idea surrounding this project was to allow training to take place in everyday surroundings. Working with a national safety training provider, we developed specifics of the one day training event and mocked up the property to show real, live, operational working conditions. Our suppliers and partners contributed equipment, supplies and other resources.

Employees saw demonstrations of equipment being used, hazards and defects, good and bad practice, as well as gaining hands on training experience.

Areas covered on the Health and Safety days included appropriate use of ladders, manual  handling and loading, use of and safety issues surrounding scaffolding, asbestos; suspect materials being tested before starting any work, vehicle use and finally, first aid.

Results:

• Being trained in familiar surroundings allowed employees to feel more relaxed and able to  relate to the topics/areas being covered
• Working methods have changed as a result
• Reduced working accidents and incidents
• Enabled us to gain first hand information about any issues employees have on site, and their own ideas for improvements
• New hire arrangements with suppliers have been developed to meet the needs of employees
• A Q&A booklet has been produced to answer common problems raised during the delivery of the courses
• Reinforced our commitment to health and safety, which has generated a reciprocal commitment from employees
• Commitment to simplify building risk assessments.

For more information contact Tim Munro on 01952 217026.