Covid-19 compliance training for staff returning to work
A WEST Wicklow company is doing its part to provide Covid-19 compliance training for businesses.
Every employer must ensure they select a lead worker representative and that their teams are trained in Covid-19 awareness, according to the Returning to Work Safely Protocol.
Orlagh Deegan, owner of Choice Training (www.choicetraining.ie), is an experienced health and safety trainer. Initially she was the first to market with Covid-19 compliance officer training courses for the construction industry and was delivering training for the hospitality and retail industries well before the launch of the Return to Work Safely Protocol.
To begin with, there were only a handful of providers delivering this training and Orlagh was shocked by the premium prices on Covid-19 related training, some of which she found to be extortionate,
‘I made a decision from day one that I would not increase my normal training rates and take advantage of this awful situation,’ she said. ‘Now there are hundreds of providers, but due to the feedback and word of mouth from our courses, it has certainly had a very positive knock-on effect and we have given numerous free places to charities that we have worked with in the past.’
This has resulted in the company dealing with Covid-19 compliance training for employers and employees, with Choice Training taking on a number of new trainers to deal with the volume.
Orlagh added: ‘It’s a difficult time for trainers and like many other people they ceased working in mid-March.’ She said Choice Training is ‘delighted’ to be able to create employment.
Trained as an occupational health and safety consultant, Orlagh’s experience in food safety and infection control has been of great benefit to her in developing Covid-19 specific training courses. She started www.choicetraining.ie in 2015 and despite the initial slow-down in March and April, she is very optimistic about the continued growth of the business.
In the month of May, the main demand was for the construction industry who were back to work first. Choice Training has trained well over 1,000 people as Covid-19 compliance officers in the first two weeks for construction sites and companies across the country. This work is ongoing for the construction industry but the focus has now shifted to retail and food business preparing for phase two and three re-openings. The knock-on effect of the training has led to Orlagh and her team assisting companies with Covid-19-specific risk assessments, policies and procedure documentation.
Orlagh said: ‘It’s important for businesses to pivot and adapt to the changed world in which we are now living. Business will not be the same for a while to come and the landscape and consumer behaviours will mean that we must adapt to the new normal, whatever that may be.’
She believes tutor-led training is far superior than purely online programmes where there is zero interaction and opportunity for question and input. As a result she has brought the classroom online, but still encourages two-way feedback and interaction between the trainer and learners.