NVQ, Occupational Health and Safety Level 3
Candidates
Anyone can study for this qualification
Outcomes
Aids personal and career development and gives the workplace added security in knowing that they have trained staff
Content and costs
The course is made up of eight units, which range from setting up safety systems to exchanging information. The cost is around 1,200 but full funding may be available
Duration
This varies, as course work is completed within the nursery and flows at the student's own pace. The average completion time is about one and a half years.
Information
Bill Ure, JB Management (Scotland) Ltd, 01294 312 007
Katrina Millar works as a room leader at Four Seasons Nurseries in Glasgow. She works with two- to three-year-olds.
'In October 2000 the nursery manager asked if I, and three other members of staff, would be interested in gaining a City and Guilds qualification in Occupational Health and Safety. One of their trainers would visit the nursery every six to eight weeks to talk us through the course and answer our questions. Course work would be completed in our spare time within the nursery, and also in private study.
'We all had a basic knowledge of health and safety from other courses we had been on, but this was a chance to develop it. I liked the way the course fitted around my work. I didn't have to be away for hours or days at a time. The trainer was flexible and allowed his visits to be re-scheduled if something else came up. The four of us were split into groups of two to make these meetings more personal; he then spent an hour with each group.
'For the first part of the course we had to prove our abilities in sourcing information. We wrote to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health, requesting health and safety information relevant to childcare. We had to collate this and use it to set up a health and safety resource base to be used by all in the nursery. This part of the course was quite slow.
'It had only been five years since I left college, so I found it easy to get back into doing written work. Working through the qualification with other staff members made things easier. I really appreciated having other people to talk things over with and we also shared tasks in the group, which saved on time.
'Next we had to devise safety systems we felt were missing or needed modifying in the nursery, using our knowledge. After monitoring the systems we had to adapt them if required. I enjoyed this as we had a chance to put into practice all the things we had been learning. Most of the systems turned out a success.
'The highlight of the course was becoming involved with the European Health and Safety Week from 16-20 October 2000. We organised various activities that centred around the children, ranging from a huge project on firefighters to more simple things such as toileting hygiene. For staff members there was a prize crossword and parents were tested with a prize quiz based on an information booklet we put together. A fire safety officer was also invited to a parents' evening.
'We submitted our activities for the week to the HSE as asked, and were very surprised to hear we had won a prize! Our manager was presented with a plaque commemorating our efforts at the Lighthouse in Glasgow.
'The whole course was a great experience and I would not hesitate to become involved with something similar in the future.'
