SQT Blog

Heartiest congratulations to all SQT candidates who took the NEBOSH Certificate exams in June. We are delighted to report a 100% pass rate across all three exams. Once again this 100% pass rate exceeds the NEBOSH average pass rate of 63%. We seem to be saying this after each set of exams but it is a statistic we are very proud of. NEBOSH qualifications are very well regarded in the Health and Safety field. Though NEBOSH is a UK based exam board, its courses are delivered worldwide.

Having been involved in the organisation of NEBOSH courses for the past number of years, I can vouch for the hard work which students have to put in … anyone with a NEBOSH qualification has worked hard to earn it. The NEBOSH Certificate but particularly the NEBOSH Diploma courses require a lot of study outside of the training days. (Self-study is built into the design of the Diploma course, it being a blended learning course).

Finbarr Stapleton, our tutor for NEBOSH courses, works hard with students throughout the course and to prepare them for the exams. He has many years of training and consultancy experience thus brings a wealth of knowledge to courses. His easy, friendly manner puts people at ease from the word go.

Good luck to the full class who commence a new NEBOSH Diploma course next Tuesday. The next NEBOSH Certificate class commences on 10th October and a small few places are still available.

If anyone has any questions on NEBOSH courses, feel free to contact me by email ecummins@sqt.ie or by telephone 061 339040.

Food Safety Training is a legal requirement for working in a food business.

Quoting the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI): ‘It is a legal requirement that staff involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised, commensurate with their work activity. The responsibility for the supervision and training of staff lies with the proprietor of the food business’.

FSAI have produced a useful Guide for Food Safety Training available on their website, www.fsai.ie

THE FSAI outline five methods that food businesses can fulfil their legal obligations with regard to training their staff including:

– designing, developing and delivering their own in-house programmes
– recruiting the services of a training provider to deliver their programmes in-house
– attending public courses
– availing of e-learning programmes, and
– using ‘off-the-shelf’ packages

We here in SQT work with many food businesses across the county both delivering in-house programmes and also providing a range of public courses.

The knowledge requirements for food businesses are advancing all the time. We are constantly adding to our course offerings in the food area. This year alone we added a new BRC Global Standards course which covers the four BRC standards:
– BRC Global Standard for Food Safety
– BRC/IOP Global Standard for Packaging & Packaging Materials
– BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution, and
– BRC Global Standard for Consumer Products.

We also introduced a TACCP Food Defence, Biovigilance & Bioterrorism

In all we now offer nine training courses on a public basis and a further five exclusively in-house. More information on training courses here.

By maintaining excellence in course design, development and delivery, by working closely with each food business for whom we deliver training, and by staying abreast of the very latest developments, we try to help the food sector meet its training needs.