National Archives: 3 courses, 1 organisation

The National Archives is the UK government's official archive from Domesday Book to modern-day websites. It holds the guardianship of some of the nation's most iconic documents, dating back over 1,000 years with a collection of over 11 million historical government and public records. Therefore, it is one of the largest collections in the world. Their 21st-century role is to collect and secure the future of the government record, both digital and physical, to preserve it and to make it as accessible. They have an excellent health and safety record ensuring legal compliance and actively maintaining a safe and healthy environment for its approximate 600 employees and visiting members of the public.

The National Archives was seeking the right training provider with whom to develop a successful relationship respecting their cultural requirements and diverse operational and technical activities in order to remain compliant and ensure a safe working environment for staff and visitors. Regular health and safety training is essential to maintaining these objectives. A range of courses were required to meet the specific organisational requirements for staff at managerial and operational levels. Relevant training tailored to their staff and the demands of their roles was also of paramount importance.

Solution

Three courses were recommended as the most suitable for their immediate requirements however tailoring of each course was necessary in order to make them specific to the operations of the staff. Dr Fiona Draper CMIOSH CEnv FIEMA FIfL was the lead tutor who liaised with their Health and Safety Advisor, Graham Taylor and agreed the objectives. Fiona is experienced in working closely with companies to fully understand specific corporate requirements and employee needs in their jobs. She spent half a day on site with Graham discussing the precise requirements for the course and taking pictures during her tour. As a result Fiona gained a feel for the priorities so she was able to adapt the content and develop a customised and relevant course.

The 3-day accredited NEBOSH Health & Safety at Work Award was chosen to provide an understanding of the principles of health and safety integrating examples of hazard identification, risk control, specific work equipment, transport and electrical safety and their risk assessment in the content and using images.

COSHH Awareness - a ½-day course was adapted for employees working in the facilities function who needed to refresh their existing knowledge.

Electrical Safety, another ½-day course, aimed at staff working in the IT and FM departments covered the principles of safe working with electricity, the electricity at work regulations and the policy and procedures in place at the National Archives. David Bryan CMIOSH RMaPS was the tutor for this course.

The courses were scheduled at a suitable time to meet delegate needs and held onsite at the National Archives.

Graham Taylor National Archives’ Health and Safety Advisor comments:
“I needed a training provider who would help fulfil our legal requirements in training and who could adopt that training to our corporate style of work whilst maintaining our values of Integrity, People and Possibilities. I am pleased to say that Astutis is able to provide that for me.”