Writing on the wall...
This article first appeared in On Course - Issue 23
There is a general requirement under Regulation 9 of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) "that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for the purposes of health and safety,including methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be taken."
THERE ARE ALSO SITUATIONS where there is a statutory requirement to users to have a Certificate of Competence, for example application of pesticides, use of chainsaws and use of fork lift trucks.
At the same time the GTC produced the wallchart, BIGGA produced a Machinery and Work Equipment Manual, designed to complement the wallchart, and both were sent to every golf club in Britain.
Good management practice would be to have clear records of any training that has taken place. Whether it is carried out in-house or outsourced this should include:
who attended the training
who provided the training
when the training took place
what was covered on the course - the course outline
outcomes of the course, results of any incourse assessment or report from the trainer, recommendations for further training
records of assessments from independent sources LANTRA or NPTC
This list gives the information required to support the GTC Work Equipment Wall Chart.
In addition to the visit from the local authority health and safety inspector there are several other situations where you could reasonably be asked to provide information and records about the training and competence of your staff. These are:
during a health and safety audit or annual visit from a company health and safety officer, insurance assessor or health and safety consultant
to prove that a member of staff is competent following an accident. An
inspector investigating the accident could legitimately ask whether the person using the machine was trained and competent to carry out the work. And again, can you provide the evidence?
If you were asked these questions could you provide the information required?
The wall chart is available from the GTC
Tel: 01347 838640 Email: fiona@the-gtc.co.uk
The Machinery and Work Equipment
Manual is available from BIGGA
Tel: 01347 833810 Email: sami@bigga.co.uk
