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There are so many training companies, safety consultancies, self-appointed governing bodies and so on asking a lot from your hard-earned cash. What for? COSHH training.
To me, when it comes to chemical risk assessment or COSHH assessment, existing training seems questionable or inadequate.
Let me explain...
When you take your driving test, you do the theory, for which you are competency checked and then you do the practical, as in, you drive a car about and prove you're not going to kill anyone.
After you've practised for a while, you go out and prove you are competent to a qualified instructor, IN REAL LIFE (AND on the roads you are actually going to drive on).
Later, you receive your driving licence, which informs your friends and family that you are safe to jump into the car with.
So why am I questioning existing COSHH training?
Existing COSHH training teaches you in a class room environment (for hundreds of £££'s) or in front of your computer (for around £25). In effect, you learn the theoretical side of chemical safety, but not the practical. This is nuts!!!
What do you learn?
What the COSHH regulations expect of your business;
How to identify risks associated with the safe use of hazardous substances;
How to control and prevent injury through risk assessment and training;
And varying degrees of other useful stuff.
What is it that I believe is missing?
Completion of a REAL (at your workplace) task-based COSHH assessment, and;
A competency check of the above COSHH assessment by a qualified instructor;
...BEFORE anyone hands out a COSHH assessment driving licence.
COSHH is about creating a COSHH assessment that controls risk in any given task that can then be used to adequately train the operator to carry out that task safely.
COSHH training providers are missing the practical driving test by failing to competency check the trainee on a REAL COSHH assessment created at their REAL place of work (the place they are protecting).
Would you give a driving licence to someone who has never driven a car, and on the road?
Not a chance.
What evidence do I have to make such a claim? Lots and lots!!!
I have provided COSHH assessment solutions to well over 150,000 safety people over the past 15 years. A percentage of these people have completed what is classed as competency training with existing COSHH training providers.
The problem is that when they apply their theoretical knowledge into what their company believes is an adequate COSHH assessment, they fall short of the mark. This greatly worries me as it should you and the people we have a legal duty to protect.
What have I done to address this problem through IACS?
In order to truly fix the problem of the existing and inadequate COSHH training I identified a number of areas that needed to be 'fixed', and here they are:
The COSHH training should be completely free and online (for maximum adoption);
The training should teach the theoretical side of COSHH as it teaches how to create COSHH assessment using a REAL and online COSHH assessment form (one of the benefits of owning your own safety software business);
The trainee can then be competency checked on creating a REAL COSHH assessment at their own place of work;
The competent trainee will then receive a certificate of competency from The International Association for Chemical Safety inline with the new COSHH Risk Assessor Certification™.
And my help doesn't stop there. On completion of your COSHH training and competency check, you'll also receive:
Free access to an online COSHH assessment creator / COSHH form;
Free access to over 250,000 Safety Data Sheets (AKA MSDS or SDS).
These are intended as free services to familiarise yourself with COSHH assessment at a best practice level used by all types of industries. Functionality is limited within these free services and you can upgrade to a very affordable paid subscription at any time.
This free e-learning COSHH training was made available online in March 2019 and will completely transform the way the chemical safety industry delivers chemical safety training.
It's akin to taking a free driving course, and when you qualify, then being given the exact car you need and knowing you are competent to keep your passengers safe.
Great.
~ Stay safe
