Working at Heights Course Relaunch

Another busy week for us with news of developments we will be bringing you over the coming weeks. Thinking about it, where has the week gone??



What I want to talk today about is our relaunch of the Working at Heights Course Package. For the last 18 months we have been running courses to complement the Lantra Awards Working @ Heights Risk Assessment Certificate. With the experience of those 18 months we have redesigned our presentation and materials. We can also target the course to particular customer requirements through the development of a number of specialist modules. Utilising animations, new graphics, video and revised handouts we now have a product that we feel really delivers the important bits about Working at Heights in an entertaining and practical way.

Oh, and to deliver this and our other materials we have upgraded our presentation system to include a High Definition Projection system so our customers can see and benefit from the improved presentation we have designed to go with this course. All this at the same cost as last year - remember if you are a member of CATraining your discount has increased from 5 to 10% for the course, (certification excluded)

(We can provide this as a CATraining course (Lantra Awards registered) or provide it as a course c/w Lantra Awards registered instructor to other training providers - see dates opposite for our own Lantra Awards registered courses)

New Course announced -Practical Risk Assessment

New for 2009. CA Training Ltd - Practical Guide to Risk Assessments.

After talking about accident prevention in our last post here is one of the ways we hope to help in our aim to reduce injury and accidental death at work.

We already run a 1 day Health and Safety at Work in Agriculture and Horticulture (Lantra Accredited) Course. We are now launching our own One Day Practical Guide to Risk Assessment Course.

This consists of a morning outlining what you need to know and how to perform basic Risk Assessments. The afternoon is then a practical session where you undertake a Risk Assessment based on your own business using your knowledge and the information supplied in the morning.

Ideally suited to small businesses both landbased and others. Coupled with the Lantra 1 day Health and Safety Awareness Course this provides the ideal start to a good grounding in meeting your Health and Safety responsibilities at work.

Next Course dates:

Tuesday 20th January
Thursday 12th February

No, not more statistics!

You will probably have heard or seen in the media the latest figures on injuries and deaths in the workplace. Land based industry achieves another record as making it one of the most popular places to kill or injure yourself. If you want the actual figures you can click HERE for the HSE summary and further link to the detailed statistics. What I want to write about today is not statistics but people. Behind all those numbers, trends and graphs are people who have lost a member of their family or been involved in an accident themselves.

One of the sad things for us is that we are often contacted after an accident to train others in a business to prevent further accidents. This isn't the sort of training we enjoy. Most accidents as the HSE will tell you are in a number of key areas - there are only so many ways to kill yourself.

So that is great - we've talked about it. What are we going to do? Well over the coming weeks we are starting an overhaul on the information on our web-site. The first stage will be to detail the main safety related courses. We will be looking at who they are aimed at, what they cover and most importantly what we see as the benefit to you of each of those courses and why you should attend.

Maybe between us we can kick a hole in those statistics.

How we help our members

This week I have been visiting a number of our members and helping them access the Women in Work training scheme (£400 funded out of £650 training per person). We have accessed potentially £6000 for our members this week. Not all that training will be supplied by CATraining Ltd. We just do not have a breadth of access to cover everything - and when that is the case we will say and try and point people in the right direction.

We are also asked why, if we are not getting the business are we putting effort into this project. To confirm, we do not get any commission or referral fees. The reason we do it is quite simple we are historically the organisation that landbased industries in the area should come to about their training needs. We hope that by charging a nominal membership fee we can cover the cost of researching identifying and helping our member customers on an impartial basis.

To follow on from that we are trying to see what benefit their is from the latest government statement on training- see this statement - we hope it may make Train to Gain easier for you to access but at present we don't know. We will announce any news we find out here first.

If you want to hear our latest news and you understand these things then subscribe to our RSS feed at the bottom of this page.

Chris

October - back from the fields

Judging by the amounts of e-mails and telephone calls a lot of our customers are catching up with work outside and thinking about training programmes for the winter and spring. With the recent events and uncertainty in the financial world it seems that many people are taking the view that a well trained team will mean they are better placed for the future.

We have been taking a look at some of our traditional courses and updating the materials used to present them. Those attending our Manual Handling and Forklift/Telescopic courses will start to see a fresh look as we move away from some of those older training films. Despite going to industry for sponsorship we have had to fund this directly ourselves and we offer a big thank you to those businesses that have allowed us access to their premises to film. We like to think that by providing modern up to date situations for our courses we are helping present training that is relevant to your business in 2008 not 1988!

Our printed newsletter has just been mailed out along with a letter for our members updating on what we have and what we plan to get up to.

For the most up to date information on course availability we are continuing to update the list to the right of this post. When I have sorted out the technology we will have a full calender available on line as well to show which courses are available and when.

Training Just Got Cheaper with CA Training Ltd! 3 Ways to Save on Training Costs This Year

Saver No. 1
At a time when costs seem to have spiralled for just about everything we are pleased to say we are bucking the trend for our members.

For the last year we have maintained a 5% discount on all training costs. As from this year all members who renew their membership will benefit from a 10% discount on training costs (excludes external certification and assessment cost.). We also intend to contain as far as possible course costs with the only increase being a reflection of instructors charges to CA Training Ltd. Our overall administration costs are not increasing this year.

Saver No. 2
We have been able to secure funding for Women in Agriculture on selected Courses. If you feel you or your staff may qualify please get in touch so we can confirm your eligibility

STOP PRESS.
Saver No.3
Lantra Awards has announced today that certification on registration costs for a number of their courses have now been reduced. Most important is the range of Forklift Courses.
—————-
So this means that if you are a CATraining Ltd. member you will save 10% on training costs and up to 30% on last years registration costs for a Forklift or Telescopic Handler Course. If your trainee is a woman you may be able to save even more!
We hope that this is good news for those of you who are thinking about your autumn training and we will be pleased to discuss your individual requirements for the coming months

Accidents at Work - new statistics

We were running a forklift training course the other day and the accident figures used came up for discussion. The casualty/mortality figures in the skills guide issued on these courses are for guidance only.

A quick phone call to my HSE contact and I was pointed at a recent HSE press release.

First the Figures for 2007:

HSE statistics highlight transport as the second biggest cause of work-related deaths, after falls from height. Every year, around 70 people are killed in transport-related accidents in the workplace and around eight of those involve Fork Lift Trucks. Of 2,249 reported accidents in one year, involving Fork Lift Trucks, 626 caused major injuries, including amputations and broken bones.

Next the reason for the press release, which involved a £1,750 fine for the employee - warning for everyone to drive carefully.

HSE’s investigating inspector Anne Robinson said:

“It is important that individuals are aware that they, as well as their employer, have duties under the law to take reasonable care of the health and safety of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. Mr Wyatt’s employer had employed an in-house forklift truck trainer and Mr Wyatt had received regular refresher training and re-testing.

“In this case his forward visibility was significantly obscured by the load and he could not see his colleague. The injuries inflicted could have been significantly worse, or even fatal. Operators of lift trucks must ensure that they operate them in accordance with the training they have been given to prevent such tragedies.”

So a quick reminder at this busy time of year to just take a few seconds to think.

What Summer Means

Sounds like a childrens "What I did in the holidays" title doesn't it? But actually it is quite important.

While many of our customers in land based industries are at their busiest time of year we at CA Training are as well but in a different way.

August is a time when we must plan for winter training programmes. We have to anticipate 6 months in advance what will be new requirements, what new courses are being offered to us and who will benefit from them. Part of the problem is that our customers are busy with their core business and don't want us interupting that. The weather is enough of a nuisance without us compounding the problem!

So what will be new and what will we repeat this season? The standards are still there: Emergency Aid, Fire Risk Assessments, Brushcutters, Abrasive Wheels, Forklifts, Tesecopic Handlers, Pesticide updates, PA1,2, 4, 6, 11 et al preparation, H&S at various levels, Food Hygiene and the rest.

New for this coming year? Well we have access to a mobile IT training suite - one of the topics we are including electronic time management, e-mails how to be in control. Traditional courses have had an overhaul with new materials for Forklift and Manual Handling.

We are also asking the question: What do YOU want from training? Competence or Certificate, they are not always the same thing and we would like to hear your views.

Students Receive Health and Safety Awards

We have been asked to attend the presentation of Health and Safety Awards at the Royal Show on 3rd July. This is because of our involvement with Lantra Awards in this qualification and because we provided the instruction to the Level 2 Award winner Scott Melton, providing the training course through TTA (West). For the full press release from Lantra Awards click on the link here:

Students Receive Health and Safety Awards

OK, A Good Week.

Why? Well sometimes it just goes right. Most importantly the right people on the right courses. It does make a difference, people feel happier and the course just works. I also visited a couple of businesses on safety issues. One a long term customer - we are pretty much there and they are seeing the benefits of "getting it right". The other business is a new one but they are committed to investing in all aspects of the business and can see that H & S is not just yellow coats and paperwork but making it all work at a practical level.

Back to training then. This week has been Animals in Transit, Manual Handling, Mig Welding, Forklift Refreshers and Brushcutters. Quite a variety then. Our manual handling presentation was really good fun we had a great group of Polish guys who could speak Russian and Polish but not English . Luckily our Lithuanian translator Mark could speak English and Russian so problem solved. Anyway a great day, everyone enjoyed the day and training was a success. Thanks guys!

June Update

What have we been doing since April? Well actually you are probably more interested in what is coming up. More on that later. Courses run over the last month have included Emergency Aid in various forms. ATV training, Brushcutters/Strimmers, Pesticides in various guises. Quite busy on the Forklift/Telescopic handler front especially with the pre-summer season renewals. This brings me on to an important point. The changes in design of some of the newer machines make the existing training programme appear at odds with the way some machines are designed to operate. As a result we are in discussion with Lantra Awards the accrediting body for the courses we run to see if we can reflect these changes, especially in the renewal/refresher courses which are designed for advanced users to some extent. In the mean time we will acknowledge these changes within our existing courses.

Lsst week I also attended a Focus Group at Lantra Awards to hear about developments within their business. As soon as these developments are confirmed we will link into the news as the plans will be quite useful for both you and us.

Cereals 2008 ran last week and seemed quite busy: Farmers Weekly have a useful news feed here for anyone who couldn't make it.

Over the next few weeks we are running our usual pre-Summer Telescopic/Combine/Tractor courses as well as PA1, PA6 courses. We are in the process of arranging a PA11 seed treatment course which still has a few places left on it.

We hope to be able to present a package to allow our customers to take the newLevel 3 Certificate in Controlling Risks to Health and Safety in Agriculture/ Horticulture as a part on-line, part tutored course. This should be available in the autumn.

It's Lantra Awards!

I have been reminded in my last post that I made reference to Lantra, not Lantra Awards. What is the difference you may ask?

Lantra is the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector.

Lantra Awards specialises in qualifications and training for people in the land-based sector through a network of local approved centres and training providers, and has more than 30 years experience in this field.

It is Lantra Awards who we belong to as a training provider. Generally they will provide the accreditation for Forklift, Tractor, Brushcutter and other Skills based courses for our trainees.

From a training point of view we have been busy and will be more so for the remainder of May with Forklift training prior to the summer season. Other courses and course enquiries have been Abrasive Wheels, Emergency Aid, More Livestock Transport, Working at Heights, Brushcutter and Strimmers, Tractor Driving and HACCP.

Looking to the future we are preparing courses in Mig Welding, More Emergency Aid, Grainstore Monitoring, Forklift and Telescopic Handling and with a reminder that the summer is almost on us Combine operation and settings!

Hope to be back with a few pictures next time.

OK, so like the Diary you get at Christmas our diligance with the blog lapsed a little.

So what have we been doing and what do we need to tell you about?

Well first we have been playing with Microsoft Accounting 2008. Even if money isn't your thing you should be aware that the Express version is free and is pretty much a Sage substitute.

Next item on the list is to remind everyone who needs telescopic/forklift/tractor training before the summer to let us know! I am doing more of this training than I want to as the other instructors we use are also extremely busy. The sooner you can let us know your requirements the sooner we can get you in the system and allocated to one of our approved trainers.

For those of you with livestock, it appears we are all just waiting for the b/t vaccine to appear. On the transport of animals subject, just to remind everyone we can offer the Lantra assessment (with our own training programme) or the NPTC assessment. If you want to be certified for more than one species the Lantra assessment appears to be the more cost effective solution. Please don't hesitate to call us for latest developments in this ever changing area.

Finally, with harvest approaching we are getting together a grainstore monitoring course. if you feel this is for you let me know asap!

Second post, better than my diary plans each January!

Well last week all the training happened. A few new locations due to the weather. Interesting moves afoot from Lantra with regard to training and upcoming courses, a case of come back here for news when we can give you something definite.

Week commencing 17 March, more Forklifts, a Telescopic refresher, A pesticide update course and then Easter.

We have had a few enquiries for Fire Marshall, Abrasive Wheels and Manual Handling over the last week so if you are interested in the same lets us know and we will have a course sorted.

So a fairly brief post this week but plenty going on. Next week I have a few days out in Scotland but with the wonders of communication we should still achieve an update!!

Welcome

Well, one of the questions I get asked most often is what are you doing, we haven't heard much from you.

The answer is that we are busy - but doing what? Well this blog is to give you an answer to that question. I will probably regret this but I aim to keep an on line diary for Cambridge Area Training Ltd (which is becoming CATraining to save time!)

So First entry and what are we doing w/c 10th March?

Well we have the following courses running

• Pesticides PA1 and PA2
• Lantra Awards Forklift 2 day, experienced operator
• Lantra Awards Telescopic Refresher 1 day (required for operators every 5 years)

What am I doing?

• Monday: Finalising CAT Ltd end of year accounts.
• Tuesday: Anglia Rural Training (our "trade association") Quarterly meeting, I am chairman next year so need to pay attention!
• Wednesday: Running the Telescopic refresher instruction.
• Thursday: Attending Lantra Awards Training Providers annual meeting - our chance to put our experiences with customers to the people who provide official accreditation for the courses you attend and need. This year we need to get across the message that our customers are looking for quality, best use of time, quality and value for money. This is against a background where Lantra Awards has to be ever more answerable to auditing bodies and meeting performance criteria. The out come of these meetings is important for both our customers and us. Another day I have to stay awake.
• Friday is Money and Certificate day, we send the invoices , pay the bills, post certificates and catch up on the week.
• Saturday is where we finish what we didn't do on Friday!
• Sunday : This promises to be fun. Many of you know I like old aeroplanes with old engines, preferably V12s. Well I have been involved with the organisation of a talk by James May of Top Gear fame at The Fighter Collection at Duxford Airfield, so along with a goggle eyed 11 year old boy I will be in Hangar 2 at Duxford.
• Monday, well that is next weeks blog.

oops, nearly forgot. We have a Chainsaw course this week. Next week I will talk about chainsaw training as it really is an important area to get the right decisions and right courses.