Where are your priorities? - Practical Facilities Management

health & safety
Health
and
Safety:
Where are your priorities?
28
We’ve all seen those ‘had an accident at
work?’ adverts on the TV, encouraging
employees to take legal action against their
employers and sue them for thousands of
pounds worth of damages. Often their claims
are substantiated by a company’s lack of
health and safety training initiatives in place
for their workers. The damage to a company’s
image and brand can be immense in
the light of a health and
safety law suite. Large
organisations rely on you
as responsible Facilities
Management and assume
sound health and safety
policies to be implemented
as a fundamental part of the
service.
Many accidents with the
resulting claims and negative
publicity can be easily avoided
by arranging a suitable health
and safety training scheme.
Accredited qualifications from
the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health (CIEH)
reward both you and your employees,
and provide your workforce
with the skills to maintain a high
level of safety when serving your
internal and external customers.
CIEH qualifications can help you
reduce workplace health and safety
incidences, protect/reduce your
insurance premiums, improve the
working environment and limit staff
absenteeism. Offering CIEH qualifications
can also help you add a sense of
value to employees that boosts both
moral and retention, lowering staff
turnover levels and improving employee
commitment to learning. You can be
reassured that the training your employees
receive is approved to national education
standards and covers a detailed
range of information suitable for their
role. Your employees will understand the
importance you place on health and safety
because you have provided them with the
highest quality of training available. CIEH
qualifications will also equip your employees
with the knowledge and skills to fulfil their
legislative work duties.
You will be aware that there are many issues
addressed with legislation that come under the
umbrella of health and safety, some of which
are a greater concern for the consensus employer.
The core health and safety issues are covered
in the CIEH Foundation Certificate in
Health & Safety in the Workplace, the CIEH
Level 2 Certificate in Supervising Health and
Safety and the CIEH Advanced Certificate in
Health and Safety in the
Workplace. The
foundation level
qualification is suitable for all
your employees and covers all the essential
basics of health and safety, such as what to do
when there is a fire or key risk areas associated
with sitting at a work station. The level 2 qualification
is for those who supervise your
employees in the workplace, providing instruction
and guidance for ensuring health and safety
is implemented correctly and continuously in
your workplace. The advanced level certificate
is for you and your managers, covering a wide
and detailed spectrum of health and safety
requirements. For more focused training
relating to specific issues the CIEH also provide
certification in the areas of stress
awareness, manual handling, COSHH and
risk assessment.
The CIEH is an international awarding body
with over 6 million people worldwide that
have successfully completed a CIEH
accredited qualification. With over 4,500
accredited training centres and more
than 15,000 registered trainers across
the UK, The Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health, est. 1883, is one
of the largest providers of accredited
qualifications in health and safety,
food safety and environmental protection.
The CIEH is also the charity
membership body for some 10,000
Environmental Health Officers.
Essentially in relation to safety,
what your business needs to know is
that the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health provides
qualifications to enable employers
and employees to understand
environmental safety legislation
and the impact businesses can
have on employees and public
health. Additionally accredited
CIEH qualifications can form
part of in-company training
schemes provided by registered
trainers, or delivered by
registered external training
companies.
Currently under development
by the CIEH are eight new
and revised qualifications in
both the health and safety
and food categories, due to
be launched in the first
half of 2006. More information
will become available later this
year, however you can register your interest
now to find out more and we will keep you up to
date as the developments progress. To stay in
the loop about the new CIEH qualifications,
email r.ford@chgl.com with the subject heading
‘New qualifications’.
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