Whilst refresher training has never technically been a legal requirement the Health and Safety Executive has always stressed the benefits of regular refresher training. With time peoples skills can deteriorate due to bad habits or potentially due to skill fade if they don’t operate the machinery very often.
As a company and in line with ITSSAR requirements none of our ITSSAR cards or certificates have an expiry date they simply state that the HSE recommends refresher training at regular intervals. We have considered adding a recommended refresher date but even that isn’t always as easy as it sounds as that can differ depending on the individual circumstances.
We are often asked what the refresher period is and that really depends on the individual and the working environment. If someone passes a test then hardly operates a machine then we would recommend a more regular refresher’s but if they operate the equipment every day for hours at a time then the refresher could be less often.
Like our previous post regarding honesty the benefit of a refresher is not simply a piece of paper it is an important factor in maintaining good operators and keeping accidents and risks down and shouldn’t be seen as an inconvenience more of a benefit.
We are currently contacting a lot of our clients who either haven’t completed refreshers or may have gone elsewhere to remind them of the benefits of these refresher courses. The surprising thing is how many companies either didn’t know their operators were due for refreshers or didn’t realise the benefits of this refresher training.
Refresher training is an important factor in the ongoing safety of plant operations and should be seen as a benefit not a burden.