A leading safety training firm is introducing an ECITB (Engineering Construction Industry Training Board) approved course to the oil and gas industry to help fill the competence gap in lifting operations.
Falck Safety Services UK (Falck), which has 32 training centres across the world, will deliver the new ECITB Moving Engineering Construction Loads Under Supervision (MECLUS) course from its two UK centres, Aberdeen and Teesside.
The comprehensive training programme, which takes place in four stages including a reassessment stage, is designed for personnel who are not primarily involved in lifting operations but require an element of lifting in their daily duties.
Stage one of the course will take place in a Falck training centre, with each delegate undertaking a two-day training programme. Stage two requires the delegate to complete a work-based task assignment (WBTA) covering a minimum of 12 lifts, to be signed off by a competent rigger in order for them to progress to stage three, a half-day technical trade test. Once completed, delegates will be awarded with an ECITB approved certificate and after two years, stage four of the process - a reassessment of the technical trade test - will be required.
Managing director for Falck Safety Services UK, Colin Leyden, said: “As a leading safety training firm, we are continually researching training gaps within oil and gas industry. After speaking to many of our customers, we found that there was a requirement for more personnel to assist with the basic, daily lifting duties on platforms and vessels, and so we created this middle-ground course in order to provide a solution to fill the gap between competence levels.
“All of Falck’s technical instructors and assessors are industry competent in the field of lifting operations. It’s important to note that delegates completing this course are not certified as riggers but will be better able to support with the lifting duties and only under the watch of their certified supervisor.
“We are currently the only training provider to offer this specific course and believe it to be one positively received by the industry. The greater the number of competent workers and the higher the level of competency on platforms and vessels, the safer the working environment will become. At Falck we support and encourage safer working environments and practices across a range of business sectors.”
Falck provides realistic training in a safe and controlled environment to more than 340,000 people each year within the global oil and gas, shipping, renewable energy, military and aviation industries.
For more information, call 08444 142 142 or visit http://www.falck.co.uk/safetyservices/ourcourses/