Kentec now has three senior instructors!

We are very proud to confirm the appointment today of our instructor Darren Painter to IPAF Senior Instructor status. Darren’s knowledge, experience and long history of high quality training made it an easy decision for IPAF.

Darren has recently joined Kentec as a full time instructor. 

This qualification will be the first of many that we will support Darren in gaining. As with all of our instructors, Kentec actively promotes and supports their training and development as both instructors and professionals.

Darren is now able to facilitate additional IPAF Courses such as MEWPs for Managers as well as facilitating IPAF Instructor Training.

Why should you train your staff?

• It’s The LAW
• A trained and competent operator is less likely to have an accident, do something wrong, operate equipment incorrectly or endanger others.

European Directives

EEC Directive 89/655/EEC A7
The employer shall take measures necessary to ensure that workers given the task of using work equipment receive adequate training including training on any risk that may entail.

EEC Directive 95/63/EEC A5
The employer shall take measures necessary to ensure that workers given the task of using work equipment receive adequate specific training including training on any risk that may entail.

United Kingdom Legislation and Regulation

Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 
Part 1. 2 (2) (c) General duties of the employer; the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees.

Work at Height Regulations 2005 – Reg 5. Competence

Every employer shall ensure that no person engages in any activity, including organisation, planning, and supervision, in relation to work at height or work equipment for use in such work unless he is competent to do so or, if being trained, is being supervised by a competent person.
(competency = sufficient and adequate training / theoretical knowledge / practical experience).

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 Reg 9. Training

(1) Every employer shall ensure that all persons who use work equipment have received adequate training for the purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be undertaken.

(2) Every employer shall ensure that any of his employees who supervises or manages the use of work equipment has received adequate training for the purposes of health and safety, including training in the methods which may be adopted when using the work equipment, any risks which such use may entail and precautions to be undertaken

Falls From Height – Still A Problem

Despite a steady decline, falls from height remain the most common kind of workplace fatality. In 2010/11, a total of 38 workers died and 4,327 employees suffered a major injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace, with a further 10,232 employees suffering an ‘over 3 day’ injury.

Many of these incidents could have been avoided by people with the right training using the correct equipment that had been properly inspected and maintained.

LADDER ASSOCIATION Assumes Responsibilities For Ladder Exchange Scheme

WITH immediate effect, the Ladder Association, the trade body representing the ladder industry in the UK and Ireland, has assumed responsibility for delivering the annual Ladder Exchange. Since it was first launched in 2007, it has been responsible for removing over 10,000 broken, bent or damaged ladders from the workplace with the message ‘Don’t let a dodgy ladder shatter your life’.

Actively supported by the Ladder Association and its members who, throughout, have made a firm commitment to work in partnership with HSE and the access industry, the Exchange has also contributed to raising awareness and understanding of how to use ladders and stepladders safely. Under the scheme, suspect ladders can be exchanged, at a discount, at participating partners.

The Ladder Exchange is a great example of how everyone in the health and safety system can share responsibility and work together towards a common goal; namely, reducing falls from height.

Comments Cameron Clow, the new chairman of the Association: “By entrusting the running and management of the Ladder Exchange to the Ladder Association, HSE is acknowledging the increasingly important role that the Association and member organisations of the Access Industry Forum (AIF) now play in advancing safety and best practice in the work at height sector.”

“The Ladder Association is the natural and logical new home for this landmark initiative, which, at launch, created a benchmark in collaboration between the industry trade body, ladder manufacturers and suppliers, and the regulatory body. As an organisation committed to advancing knowledge, skills and safety, we are proud and delighted to have the opportunity of taking over and developing this initiative.”

Paul Cook for HSE says: ”It is widely recognised that trade associations such as the Ladder Association are well placed to promote safety in their industries, given their long established cross-sector membership and contacts. We look forward to the Ladder Association making a real success of the Ladder Exchange as it develops in future years, helping to reduce serious risks that can cost people their livelihoods and  their lives.”

The 2012 Ladder Exchange will begin on 1 September and run until 30 November 2012. Full details will be posted on the Ladder Association’s website from 1 May. In the interim period, anyone wishing to register their interest in becoming a participating partner should contact jill.couttie@ladderassociation.org.uk

More Ladder Exchange details will also be available from the Association’s stand in the AIF Information Centre at this year’s Safety & Health Expo, 15-17 May, at the NEC, Birmingham.