NEW SAFETY TRAINING PARTNERSHIP FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

NEW SAFETY TRAINING PARTNERSHIP FOR NORTHERN IRELAND

A new partnership between RoSPA and the Safety Advice Centre (SAC) means employers in Northern Ireland now have access to a wider range of high quality training courses to help them prevent accidents and ill health among their workers.

Bangor-based SAC Ltd and RoSPA, a charity that has been at the heart of accident prevention in the UK and around the world for more than 90 years, will jointly deliver courses on a variety of subjects related to the proportionate and sensible management of safety and health at work.

There are skills courses for workers involved in manual handling and the use of abrasive wheels, and for those who have responsibility for training others in these areas. Asbestos awareness, risk assessment and accident investigation are also on the course schedule, as well as training for flagship safety and health certificates from NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) and IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health).

Karen McDonnell, head of portfolio development at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: “Proportionate safety and health management is good for workers, good for employers and good for the economy as a whole. Accidents and ill health are extremely costly, particularly for smaller firms in which the impact can be felt acutely. This is especially true during tough trading conditions when it is difficult to offset these costs by increasing orders and turnover.

“Both RoSPA and SAC have offered training courses in Northern Ireland for a number of years and our new partnership means we can draw upon each other’s expertise and increase capacity, enabling more organisations to benefit from the training.”

Bill McAllister, SAC’s managing director, said: “In recent years, there have been significant reductions in the number of people killed or injured in accidents at work in Northern Ireland which is fantastic news. Through our new partnership with RoSPA, we hope to contribute to reducing these figures even further.

“Both SAC and RoSPA believe that training is more than just a tick box exercise to ensure basic legal compliance; it is also hugely valuable for enhancing an organisation’s overarching safety culture.”

Courses will be held at SAC’s training centre on the Balloo Industrial Estate in Bangor. In-company options are also available.

RoSPA’s workplace safety team in Edinburgh is co-ordinating course bookings and can be contacted on 0131 449 9378. For more information about the courses, visit www.rospa.com/about/aroundtheuk/northern-ireland/workplace-training.aspx.

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