New health and safety training courses launched

Health and safety training company NOSA is set to roll out two new health and safety courses launched at the end of last year.

NOSA marketing, commercial and social media editor Nadia Pisanti says NOSA’s 34 training facilities across South Africa are indicative of the high demand for education and skills development in the health and safety industry, hence the introduction of the new Advanced SAMTRAC course and the Construction Health and Safety (CHS) Certificate.

The Advanced SAMTRAC course, launched this month, is an extension of the SAMTRAC course, for which about 40 000 trainees have enrolled since it was first introduced in the 1960s, states NOSA commercial director Roland Glass.

The course comprises seven modules. The six theorybased modules will focus on the framework of the Safety, Health and Environmental Quality (SHEQ) management system, and deal with applied operational process mapping for the system; improve its effectiveness and efficiency; implement it as an operational plan; cover health, safety and environmental ethics in the system; assist in the development of a workplace risk assessment; and review controls in an effective SHEQ management system. The practical module requires the design of a SHEQ management system for the trainee’s company.

The course is aimed at health and safety practitioners, supervisors and representatives, as well as general managers and risk assessors.

Further, the CHS certificate course, which also launched in 2015, focuses on the construction industry and will cover the major health, safety and environmental (HSE) risk areas. The course was developed to meet the requirements of the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions, as well as the global construction industry.

Each of the course’s five modules has a theoretical and practical component. The modules will focus on CHS foundations (including CHS management basics and controlling subcontractor health and safety compliance risks, as well as construction-site establishment risks); controlling hazardous tasks, equipment and materials (as well as construction work environments); and implementing effective CHS management system programmes.

Further, NOSA is offering clients software solutions to assist in managing their HSE risks. The NOSA Supplier Vetting System is a “third party, independent accreditation programme”, which assesses the client’s compliance with international best practices and responsible supply management.

The company is also the exclusive provider of the NOSA Five Star Grading System, a health and safety auditing system. NOSA also honours companies whose efforts make a difference to the health and safety industry, specifically those with outstanding HSE performances, through its Noscar awards, which are held annually at NOSA’s annual occupational risk management conference and exhibition, NOSHCON.