Safety training helps design engineer diversify

A Pilz Automation Technology product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 27, 2006

An Electrical Design Engineer at Leicester Switch and Control (part of the BPX Group), recently attended the five-day IOSH 'Managing Safely combined with Machinery and Work Equipment Safety' course

Richard Graham, an Electrical Design Engineer at Leicester Switch and Control (part of the BPX Group), recently attended the five-day IOSH 'Managing Safely combined with Machinery and Work Equipment Safety' course run by Pilz Automation Technology at its training facility in Corby.

Since then, he has been made responsible for health and safety at the company, which manufactures motor control systems and programmable logic controller (PLC) based control systems.

The main reason for Richard wanting to attend the course was to diversify beyond product legislation issues and gain a qualification that would help towards a more managerial position.

At his previous job he had been in charge of CE marking, and felt that workplace safety was an area that was interesting, challenging and worthwhile.

Leicester Switch and Control is a relatively small company, with around 20 employees, but it has established an excellent reputation for the quality of its work.

Indeed, the company is a Primary Systems Partner with several of the leading manufacturers of control gear and PLCs.

Although the IOSH 'Managing Safely combined with Machinery and Work Equipment Safety' course is run over five consecutive days, Leicester Switch and Control was willing to send a member of its staff on the course to improve his understanding of health and safety legislation and its application in an environment where machinery and work equipment is used.

Two particular benefits of the Pilz course are that it is a fully accredited, tailored version of the IOSH Managing Safely training course, which offers considerably more than a standard course, and it has an additional one-day module that focuses on machinery and work equipment.

As a result, it was ideal for Richard's needs within a manufacturing company.

The first four days of the course are presented by Ivan Green, a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner, and the fifth day is presented by a machinery safety expert from Pilz Automation Technology.

Having successfully completed the course and been awarded his IOSH certificate, he says: "I thought the course content was very good, and the presentation style was excellent".

"The approach was far more interactive than other courses I have been on, which made it much easier to absorb the information." He continues: "Having a certificate from IOSH is a real benefit, as it is universally recognised and accepted".

"But the additional focus on machinery safety in this particular course was a huge advantage for me, and I don't think I could have found that in any other IOSH Managing Safely course." In conclusion, he says: "Since attending the course I have been put in charge of health and safety at Leicester Switch and Control".

"I have therefore applied my new knowledge to numerous risk assessments and am ensuring that we continue to comply with the legislation and regulations covered on the course.".