SQT Blog

This is a question we frequently get asked here in SQT.

We have four Environmental Auditing courses.

The first is the:
EMS/Internal Environmental Auditor course

We then have three IEMA approved auditing training courses:

IEMA Approved Foundation Course in Environmental Auditing (Ireland)

IEMA Approved Advanced EMS Auditing Course (Ireland)

IEMA Approved Internal EMS Auditing (Ireland/Northern Ireland)

(EMS Environmental Management System)

The first course, the EMS/Internal Environmental Auditor course is a two day course designed for those who want to:

.
This course is very popular and when run in-house, can be tailored to suit company requirements and include an on-site practical audit.

The next three courses are IEMA accredited. IEMA, The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment is an independent, non-profit making organisation, dedicated to raising standards of professional competence in the environmental auditing and environmental management systems auditing fields and is the largest body of environmental auditors world-wide. More information on IEMA can be found on their website here.

The IEMA approved Foundation and Advanced courses are both five day intensive training courses.

The Foundation course will be of interest to company personnel who are responsible for implementing or maintaining the EMS in their company. It will also be of interest to those who are responsible for the internal environmental auditing function within their company.

The Advanced course prepare delegates for the role of environmental auditors/assessors of EMS to standards acceptable to third party certification bodies. Attendees should be familiar with the requirements of ISO 14001/EMAS before attending this course. The course is intended for environmental and quality professionals who have previously attended an IEMA approved course or who have a sound understanding of EMS and who wish to improve their environmental auditing skills and refresh their knowledge of environmental issues and themes.

In other words if you have a good prior knowledge of EMS and need more training in auditing skills, the Advanced course is for you. If you need intensive training in EMS, then the Foundation course is more suitable.

Both five day courses get a lot of material covered. The practical component on both courses is based on a comprehensive case study. With both five day courses, there is continuous assessment of practical work through out the course and a written examination at the end.

A certificate of competence is awarded to participants who satisfactorily complete the course continuous assessment and examination. Both five day courses meet the training requirements for registration as an Associate Environmental Auditor with IEMA. To register for the next level of Environmental Auditor, you will also need to meet the specified auditing hours required by IEMA.

Both five day courses cover European/Irish legislation

Finally we provide the three day IEMA approved Internal EMS Auditing course only as an in-house course. This is similar to the first course I covered above, but is IEMA accredited. This course covers European/Irish but also Northern Ireland legislation.

People who have queries on any of the above can email akelly@sqt.ie.

With September coming and children returning to school and students starting or returning to college, many people begin to think of their own training needs. There has never been as much emphasis on upskilling for all of us.

Here in SQT we find a big increase in course bookings at this time of year. I just want to draw your attention to some of the longer courses commencing shortly. Here’s a quick list and I’ve inserted a link back to the course page, where further details can be found. I’ve included public courses of four days or more duration.

Black Belt – HETAC level 8, commencing 12th October Dublin

Green Belt – HETAC level 7, commencing 22nd September Dublin and 19th October in Cork

Green Belt – HETAC level 6, commencing 22nd September Dublin and 19th October in Cork

NEBOSH International Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, commencing 23rd September Dublin

NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety, commencing 28th September Dublin

Certified Energy Management – AEE, commencing 21st September Dublin

Train the Trainer, National Register of Trainers – FETAC level 6, commencing 12th October Dublin and 16th November Limerick

Quality Management Systems Auditor/Lead Auditor – IRCA, commencing various dates in the Autumn in Dublin and Limerick

Lean Manufacturing Tools – FETAC level 5, commencing 14th September Dublin

IEMA Approved Foundation Course in Environmental Auditing (Ireland), commencing 11th October Dublin

IEMA Approved Advanced EMS Auditing Course (Ireland), commencing 22nd November Dublin

Occupational Health & Safety Management System Lead Auditor, commencing 8th November Dublin

Good luck to all.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) are seeing a big increase in the number of requests for information from people interested in starting a new food business, probably reflecting the downturn in the economy. In the National Technology Park here in Limerick, a new business, yum yums, has recently started delivering good quality lunches, door to door to offices and businesses in the Park. The refrigerated van arrives daily before lunch, selling sandwiches, wraps, soups etc.

Sean and Sinead set up their new food enterprise in 2009. Sean was a self-employed builder and Sinead a Sales Manager in GE Money. We all know the difficulties in the building sector and then Sinead became redundant from her sales job. They decided to establish this food business. Last year they had one van delivering door to door. Since January they now have two.

To support such enterprises, the FSAI has just published a new ‘Guide to Food Law for Artisan/Small Food Producers Starting a New Business’. The guide covers areas such as:

- Food Law
- Registration and Approval
- Food Safety Management System
- Training
- Traceability and Recall
- Legislation Summary
- Voluntary Irish Standards

Training is one area where we can help Artisan/Small Food Producer. We have twelve Food Safety training courses covering HACCP, Food Allergen Control, Food Safety Auditing, Food Legislation, Food Hygiene, Risk Management and the ISO 31000 standard.

This guide is available on the FSAI website.

Sean and Sinead hope to employ 10 people by end 2010. We wish them the very best of luck with their venture.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) do trojan work in the whole area of food safety.

Last week it announced details of communications received on their advice line in 2009. In total 9,444 communications were received, of which 1,981 (21%) were complaints from consumers.

The 1,981 complaints were broken down into:

858 (43%) complaints on unfit food
363 (18%) complaints on suspect food poisoning
408 (21%) complaints on hygiene standards
112 (6%) complaints on incorrect information on food labelling
20 (1%) complaints on incorrect advertising of food products
220 (11%) other

Consumer awareness of food hygiene and safety issues is evident in my opinion from the fact that 38 people on average contacted the FSAI each week with complaints. However we must remember that this only reflects the number of consumers who actually took the time to make contact with the FSAI – most likely only a fraction of the number of consumers who encountered problems.

Foreign objects that contaminated food included insects, hair, pieces of skin, glass and rodent droppings. Complaints about poor hygiene standards related to food handling staff not washing their hands, touching their face and then handling food and handling raw and cooked food with the same kitchen utensils.

44% of communications received by the advice line were from the food industry. The main requests were for publications, advice on food labelling, food safety training information and information on how to set up a new food business.

We here at SQT also do a lot of training in the area of food safety. In total we have twelve courses in this area including:

Food Safety Auditing
HACCP Development, Implementation & Verification
Food Allergen Control
Global Standard for Food Safety BRC Issue 5
Instructor Skills for the Food Industry
Introduction to Food Legislation
Food Hygiene

A number of these courses are FETAC accredited.

Full information on the courses listed is available by clicking on the above links or here for our full range of food safety courses.

Full details of FSAI announcement is here.