Ten years ago the Smoke Free Regulations came about in England. How times have changed! I now have a granddaughter, and we often eat out as a family when pre 2007 we would have been hard pressed to find somewhere we could go which would be free from second hand smoke. I was proud to have played a part in the national training of enforcement officers at the time for the Department of Health and the CIEH. I worked alongside a small team of trainers and policy officers to design and deliver an innovative and comprehensive training series, which was repeated some years later. I also transferred some of that learning to the winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. These were real public health measures. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Its sometimes good to have these memories and achievements on your CV, at other times its just a warm feeling to take part in legacy training.
CIEH Intermediate Health and Safety update
Yesterday was day 1 of delivery of this new programme. I am fortunate to have a group of learners who I already know quite well, so its a programme I have tailored to existing skill and knowledge levels. The discussions provided in the training pack have all been able to be facilitated well by me because they had that knowledge. Today I will continue to use all the slides in the pack for completeness. After this course I will modify a few more of the slides for my next delivery, but to be honest the whole pack is working well for a first time out. The activity sheets need careful thought before usage. As I have some tried and tested activities of my own, I am less likely to use the ones in the pack. Overall happy with it so far. Today will see the return of the inflatable man!
CIEH H&S books arrived!
I got my first glimpse of the new CIEH Intermediate Occupational Health and Safety book this morning. Its a good looking book, not too extensive to be daunting, with some nice graphics, and the ‘test yourself’ sections that we have seen elsewhere have been included. Obviously I will need to read it in depth before my first course next week, but the book and slides together make for a good programme in the right hands. The materials very much reflect how I have been teaching this subject for many years – that’s not a criticism! It is not that dissimilar in many ways from the very first ‘Intermediate’ H&S course that I co-designed for the CIEH. Health and Safety has always needed to be taught in a straightforward manner and that’s what this programme can do. It will serve well to counteract the ‘Elf and Safety’ negativity that has been around in my experience since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act. Nevertheless my first ‘new style’ course will need careful preparation in order to ensure it is successful, so it looks like a rainy weekend will be a bonus!!!!
CIEH Intermediate Occupational Health and Safety
Next step – the books have been ordered – easy process by phone.
Last night I went through the PowerPoint slides, customising where I needed to. I made quite a few small and large changes! E.g. that “Plan Do Check Act” graphic is far too fancy to be useful and not really intuitive, plus the text can’t possibly be seen on projection – however, it was easy to design a new version, it just took about an hour (No, you can’t have it!!!). All the changes I made were to ensure that I can use the slides in a real training situation with my participants in mind. This is something every trainer must do for themselves, as only they know how they are going to introduce it, and when they will come off the PowerPoint deck for real training. When I designed training packages for the CIEH many moons ago, it took an age to try to construct graphics which meant the same to everyone, so I have been there!
Overall its a good slide set, and I am looking forward to letting it guide me along the right path!
Intermediate Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety
Well, I have compiled my syllabus, devised my programme, just waiting for coursebooks to be available. Printing off all the activities, I expect I will change, drop, replace or modify as I see fit. I have two days booked in to deliver this programme, then I will review progress and either set up the assessment, or develop an action plan for self study prior to the assessment. My favourite activities fit in well to this programme, so I am expecting a good outcome. Watch this space for food safety too.
New CIEH resources – see for yourself!
I have now seen and studied the new CIEH resources, so my next step is just to wait for the course books to be available. Then I will be all set to refine my training programmes, customise the power points, tweak the activity sheets and add in my own favourite creative touches. Nothing in the new materials has shocked, surprised or disappointed me compared to the previous resources, and that’s fine. What I will be doing is developing my training needs analysis strategy and introducing some formative assessments.
As anyone can register, obtain a contract and license, providing they join CIEH, you can now see all the resources for yourself. Onwards and upwards now!
The end of an era? Exam day
Today I am invigilating my last CIEH exam of the plastic bag era! So how will exam day look in the future? Same briefing, same pencils, same exam conditions,maybe even the same questions? (hope they improve somewhat perhaps?) I think much will feel the same, and the training I hope will be able to continue to be the best that I can deliver. Next week I start to find out! As usual I am apprehensive for my learners. That won’t change.
