Council Team Win Top Health and Safety Qualification

Eleven trade union representatives who work for The Highland Council are the first students from a public agency in Scotland, and the first local authority in the UK, to have won a top TUC health and safety certificate after completing two years of dedicated study, involving 480 hours of learning.

They were presented with the TUC Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety at a ceremony at Inverness today (Tuesday) by Alistair Dodds, Director of Corporate Services, who highly commended them on their commitment to ensuring the highest standards of health and safety in the workplace.

The Highland Council is the first public agency in Scotland to have formed this partnership with the TUC to promote this high level course for employees, who are trade union members, which was delivered by Stow College.

Mr Dodds said: “The Council is pleased to have worked in partnership with  trade unions to provide this training, which will go a long way to helping ensure a greater awareness of health and safety in the workplace. The team has put in a huge amount of dedication and effort to gain this very prestigious qualification.”

Cliff Parr, secretary of the Joint Trade Union Health and Safety Representatives Group, welcomed the support from the council in promoting health and safety in the work place. He hoped the lead by the Council would persuade other public agencies to follow suit. 

The Council course has been delivered through seven one-week blocks, with tutor support, and through student self-learning. The course comprised four core units, involving occupational health and safety organisation, occupational health and safety law, occupational health safety welfare and environment and an occupational health and safety research project.

Skills’ units comprised IT, communication, statistics and research skills.

For successful completion of the course and for award of qualification, all units had to be achieved at either National Open College Network (NOCN) level two or level three. For the right to apply to IOSH for membership, all units have to be achieved at the NOCN level three.

The TUC Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety is recognised by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health for entry into the Institute at the Tech IOSH grade.

Those members of staff who have qualified are:-

Sidney Burroughs, TEC Services, Dingwall (Unison)
Sylvia Eddie, Social Work, Mallaig (Unison)
June Gillies, Social Work, Tain (TGWU)
Jane Sutherland MacKay, Social Work, Melness (Unison)
 Ian MacPhee, Social Work, Wick (Unison)
 Cliff Parr,  Property and Architectural Services, HQ, , Inverness (Unison)
Gavin S Reid, Social Work, Fort William (Unison)
Norma Sturrock, Social Work, Fort William (Unison)
 William Turnbull, Social Work, Invergordon (Unison)
John Douglas Ralph, Education Culture and Sport, Nairn (GMB)
Colin Stein, Education Culture and Sport, Inverness (GMB)

Aderyn Coull, Housing, Inverness (Unison) has successfully achieved two core units of the course and all of the skills units, and will be certificated for 30 National Open College Network credits at level three.