Choosing a Health, Safety and Environmental Training Course

The development of health and safety in the last fifty years is quite astounding. Often organisations would maybe only seek one generic 'health and safety' programme, often billed as a one size fits all solution. Sadly, it has taken decades of missed warnings and fatal accidents/incidents for the wider world to accept that health and safety is indeed a multi-verse in itself. 

Health and safety as a topic is as broader than you could possibly imagine. This can make choosing a specific health, safety and environmental course quite a difficult task.

For anyone or any organisation looking to upskill themselves or their staff, they need to first answer the following questions:

1. Who will be taking part in the training?
2. What field are those who partake in training in?
3. What is the desired outcome of the training? 

Once you answer these questions, understanding where to go next should be easier. So let's address the answers to the first of those questions. 

If entry-level staff is involved in the training, Astutis recommend the following courses, which apply to any industry. 

They help establish critical thinking for entry-level staff, embedding competency, compliance, and understanding everyone needs to climb the career ladder into supervisory roles.

IOSH Working Safely:

The IOSH Working Safely course provides an informative oversight on all health and safety issues at a ground floor level, helping to establish a platform for critical thinking on safety issues beyond their station. The course informs on responsibility, risk/hazard identification, risk/hazard limitation and adopting a proactive and progressive attitude towards workplace health and safety.

IEMA Sustainability Skills for the Workforce:

Arguably one of the most pressing and trending health, safety and environmental training courses today, the IEMA Sustainability for the Workforce course introduces staff to a myriad of ecological considerations they can apply in their everyday role. The course, instead of reiterating broad concepts, offers learners practical advice and understanding they can apply in their workplace. 

The course is a insightful introduction to eco-friendly working practices that extends a forensic eye over how staff can incorporate improved attitudes and mentalities towards the environment in the workplace, embedding a healthy and progressive culture in any organisation. 

IIRSM Approved Stress and Wellbeing Toolkit

The IIRSM Approved Stress and Wellbeing Toolkit course is a introductory ninety minute course that offers the very latest advice in reducing stress and promoting wellbeing in the workplace. The course is hosted Dr Abi Lucas, a clinical psychologist who will analyse the most productive ways to accelerate initiatives that amplify good mental health and reduce stress. 

The course is streamlined to highlight the best strategies that accelerate wellbeing in the workplace by equipping staff with proven tools to reduce and combat stress in and out of the workplace. Hear from Dr Abi Lucas below, to find out more about the IIRSM Approved Stress and Wellbeing Toolkit. 

Managerial/Supervisory Level 

For managerial or supervisory level staff, we recommend training programmes that provide a comprehensive blueprint of effective managerial philosophies whilst adhering to the most stringent health, safety and environmental practices. 

At this level, we recommend the following courses;

IEMA Sustainability Skills for Managers: 

A more complete follow-on from the IEMA Sustainability Skills for the Workforce (above) course; if learners have already studied that course, this is the perfect next step. This time, the IEMA Sustainability Skills for Managers course is entirely focused on providing green-friendly skills to management staff. The course will identify how staff and organisations can protect and use the environment to their advantage. Learners will also be instructed on how to approach; 

• the contamination of water 
• the control of waste and land use 
• the control of environmental noise (pollution) 
• sources of energy and maximising efficiency 
• the control of emissions to air

IEMA Pathways to Net Zero: 

A unique, fresh training programme that gifts organisations a blueprint for eventual carbon neutrality. In an age where reducing carbon emissions is essential for the planet's health, the IEMA Pathways to Net Zero course allows anyone to do their bit. Fundamentally, the course enables organisations to enhance their reputation and become known as environmentally proactive. Alternatively, individuals who pass the course possess highly desired skills in understanding how to drastically improve any organisation's environmental performance. 

IOSH Managing Safely: 

IOSH's flagship offering, the IOSH Managing Safely course, is a natural follow-on from the IOSH Working Safely course. In this incarnation, learners are taught how to manage effectively with a firm grasp of workplace health and safety still in mind. Learners are taken through a forensic understanding of how to discover, evaluate and restrict risk to maximise the safety of their workplace. Sadly, accidents and incidents happen due to the nature of the modern workplace, especially in industries like construction. The key is to minimise the impact of these occurrences. The course also educates learners on how to effectively lead investigations into workplace incidents/accidents, which help establish the why, what and how of the occurrence, dramatically restricting its likelihood in the future. 

IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing: 

It is often said that a happy person is also a productive person. With that in mind - the IOSH Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing course educates managers on how to properly deal with staff suffering from poor wellbeing or occupational health. It guides learners in successfully implementing a wellbeing strategy while investigating the most common causes of poor wellbeing or occupational health in the workplace. Managers will come out of this course to understand how to communicate and assist individuals in a fragile state of mind, with compassion. 

Technical Courses

As discussed in the introduction of this blog, the health, safety and environmental arena is extremely broad. Not every job or occupational intricacy can be assisted by a linear list of health, safety and environmental training programmes; some unique situations require more technical courses. 

NEBOSH Fire Certificate: 

Fires present the most catastrophic risk in any workplace. Human control, when fires occur, becomes extremely limited. The ability to stop fires once they hit their peak is very difficult and can lead to further safety hazards. Therefore understanding how to minimise any risk associated with fires is vital for a safe and healthy workplace.

The NEBOSH Fire Certificate is widely regarded as the flagship fire safety training course, instructing how to limit the risk of fires and react in an ongoing live fire situation. This course can be applied to any industry and will provide the understanding to save lives. 

NEBOSH Health and Safety For Construction Certificate: 

The NEBOSH Construction Certificate has become an integral health, safety and environmental training course for anyone in the construction industry. The course instructs on best practices on the construction site and the drivers and decisions that influence the site and worker activity. 

Professional Level

These remaining courses are the most comprehensive courses we offer. They require prior health, safety and environmental understanding and will (most probably) ask that learners have sat other courses before embarking on the following;

NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals: 

Widely regarded as the flagship health and safety training course, the NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma is the most complete training programme for managerial staff. The course covers every imaginable topic, catering to environmental aspects that can be applied to any organisation or industry worldwide. The NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma is a hefty time investment and should not be considered an easy pass by any stretch of the imagination; it will require determination and proactive determination to maximise chances of success. 

Successful learners can manage teams with a complete understanding of the best health, safety and environmental protocols and have the mindset to help their peers and guide them in the right direction. This course does not just create managers; it makes leaders. 

Discover the impact the NEBOSH Level 6 Diploma can have on your career by watching our chat with David Morris 2022 Award winner, Simon Steele below. 

IEMA Certificate in Environmental Management: 

The perfect follow-on from the IEMA Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management, this course goes even further to inform on the latest environmental legislature and regulations, effective methods to lower carbon emissions and how to operate as usual with minimised ecological effects. 

The IEMA Certificate in Environmental Management is becoming one of the most in-demand health, safety and environmental training programmes because of its wide-reaching impact. Organisations who enrol on the course are considered proactively environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, organisations actively seek managerial staff with a fundamental understanding of minimising environmental impact. Individuals who study this course are immediately more attractive to employers seeking greener operations. 

NEBOSH General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety: 

The NEBOSH General Certificate provides a more grounded understanding of all health, safety and environmental topics. Primarily, the course introduces learners to the widely influential 'Plan, Do, Check, Act' methodology that can establish a proactive health and safety system in any organisation.

The course also instructs learners on the importance of professional grade risk assessments. In the workplace, organisations rely on the accuracy of risk assessments to assess risks. If the risk assessment does not accurately describe the state/significance of a risk, the impact could be catastrophic. This course will guide learners on how to complete them to the highest standard, and learners will be graded on their ability to do so by the conclusion of the course. 

Discover the new innovations applied to our Online NEBOSH General Certificate offering by watching the video below

Choosing the right course is entirely dependent on the circumstances of the learner and the desired outcome of the training. Let's harp back to those initial three questions we posed at the beginning of the blog; 

1. Who will be taking part in the training?
2. What field are those who partake in training in?
3. What is the desired outcome of the training? 

Only after unearthing the answers to these questions can organisations or individuals make the calculated decision of choosing the right health, safety and environmental training course for their circumstance. However, you might need a little more information before committing to a decision. 

Unsure of how you or your staff should learn? We offer several, different, learning methods designed to tailor to all learners regardless of their preferences.

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