More hands-on experience for gas testing trainees

A partnership between Wood Training and Entec Services’ Gas Detectors business is helping workers get the best training to stay safe on the job.

Wood Training has been delivering Gas Testing Unit Standards at its New Plymouth training centre for years, and recently made changes to the required practical assessment element of the course, replacing the on-job assessment with on-site practical work.  Working with industry to ensure that the testing was the same as if on an energy chemical site, Wood Training passed moderation by the Standard Setting Body. This means that trainees can complete the full theory and practical requirements in one 10-hour session.

“It’s really important that students get hands-on experience of holding and becoming familiar with the various gas detectors, understanding how they work, and interpreting correctly the results they get,” says Wood Training lead health and safety and environment trainer and assessor Jack Hywood.

“Therefore, we wanted to have more gas detection devices on-site – not only for the practical testing but also in the classroom during the theory aspect.”

Entec came onboard and, through its Gas Detectors division, is lending Wood Training a number of the latest and widely used multi-gas portable detectors.

“We’re really thankful to Entec for their support and are pleased to partner with them,” says Jack.

“For people across a range of industries, such as the petrochemical industry and engineering industry, and the likes of drainlayers and staff at water treatment plants, gas detection safety is critical.

“Having more devices, and the latest devices on-hand, makes a big difference to the quality of learning for the trainees.”

Entec managing director Bob Weston agrees.

“Entec and Wood Training have had a long and collaborative relationship and we share a common interest of ensuring everybody is safe, and well trained,” he says.

“Gas detectors are an expensive but crucial part of safe work planning in environments. While they are designed to be simple to operate, the operators have to have good training and a good working understanding in order to minimise gas-related risks in their workplaces.

“We use Wood for a lot of the safety and competency training required to work in our industry sectors, and we believe we offer the best gas detectors in the market, so this partnership just makes sense,” he says.

Among the gas detection devices Wood uses for training are the Ventis Pro 4, Ventis MX4 and Radius BZ1 detectors, and Ion Cub units.

Jack says the recent inclusion of the practical assessment element of the Gas Testing certificate has “filled a need”.

“It was proving difficult for many trainees to get onto a petrochemical or energy site to undertake the required three gas tests to complete the course,” he says. “Using our facilities on-site, we already provided the one gas test required as part of the theory element, so we believed we could make the certification process more efficient by offering the full practical element of the assessment, which has been a success