One of the largest employers in the engineering construction industry (ECI) has mandated that all its supervisory staff complete the ECITB’s Leading a Team Safely (LaTS) course.
To date, Altrad has trained around 1,000 UK-based supervisors on the LaTS course in the space of 18 months to ensure that they are aware of and working to the latest safety protocols and operational best practices.
The attendees so far have included supervisors, chargehands, foremen and even senior managers. Those promoted or new supervisory staff joining Altrad sit the course straight away as part of their personal development.
Donna Mulvihill, Head of Learning & Development at Altrad, said: “In our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and safety, Altrad recognised the need for a training programme specifically tailored to our industry’s requirements.
“The ECITB Leading a Team Safely (LaTS) course is instrumental in equipping our staff with the skills and knowledge necessary to maintain the highest standards of safety and operational efficiency.
“By mandating the LaTS course across all supervisory roles and integrating it with our other safety initiatives, Altrad not only adheres to industry standards but also sets a new benchmark for safety and operational excellence.
“This holistic approach ensures our staff are exceptionally prepared to meet the demands of their roles, thereby fostering a culture of safety and continuous improvement.”
What is the Leading a Team Safely (LaTS) course?
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB) Leading a Team Safely (LaTS) course is a one-day workshop designed to provide an essential introduction to managing small teams within the context of health and safety in the industry.
The course focuses on the essentials of leadership such as planning, implementing and reviewing, with a natural emphasis on health and safety. It is aimed at supervisory staff who have responsibility for teams, but who may have had little or no training in health and safety responsibilities or in the essentials of leadership.
Altrad has been running the in-house course at its centres across the UK, including those run by trainer Mark Cockin at its Altrad Babcock office in Selby, North Yorkshire, near to Drax Power Station (pictured).
Mark has been involved in training ECITB courses, such as LaTS, for two years and his industry background means he understands first-hand the benefits of safety training. He started out as a thermal insulation engineer apprentice at 16 in 1985 before taking on a site supervisor role at Altrad in 2005 and becoming site manager at Drax in 2014.
“I have learnt a lot of things as a manager, supervisor and operative over the years, as well as through the re-education bits I’ve done, so the experience I have helps deliver these courses,” said Mark, who has trained more than 500 Altrad workers on the LaTS course across the north of England.
“Our aim is to be incident free and send everyone home safely. This course is about ensuring people are set to work safely and looks at areas like planning, communication, people and leadership skills and how to apply that to a team.
“Without good leadership, planning and clear, concise communication people will assume things are right and that’s how accidents happen, so the course helps coach people in these areas. They often say failure is down to poor communication, but this course helps ensure workers are going out there more confident seeing their leaders being visible, involving everyone in the team and doing everything safely.”
Supervisors ‘all singing off the same song sheet’
Objectives of the LaTS course include influencing the behaviour of those being supervised; ensuring good planning and communication of health and safety related to site work; and helping ensure workers operate on site more safely, lowering risk to themselves and others.
Altrad’s commitment to ensuring safety across all supervisory roles meant also enrolling managers on the course, such as Maintenance Manager Phil Watt.
Phil works at VPI Power Station in Immingham, south of the River Humber, and has been with the organisation for almost 20 years.
He said: “I’ve got a lot of experience, but the course acts as a good refresher and helps give you new ideas on how to lead your team safely.
“All supervisory staff being put through the course shows clients that Altrad is committed to safety. It sends a good message out about the culture around safety at Altrad.
“It also means we’re all singing off the same song sheet and aiming for the same standards. Being a manager, it’s easier if my supervisors have all done the same training because they all understand the standards that we’re all working to.”
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