It is essential that your spill team members are trained in the use of spill kits and any other spill containment facilities on site to ensure they are prepared to respond competently in the event of a spill. Your spill containment measures need to be proportionate to the level of risk on site, but they will only be effective if they are used quickly and effectively, well trained first responders can ensure if a spill does occur it’s effects will be minimised and the incident will be dealt with safely. Often the environmental managers or health and safety managers are aware of what the spill procedures are and how to use spill kits but they are rarely the first responders to a spill. By the time the alarm has been raised and they have arrived at the spill its severity has drastically increased and health and safety or environmental harm has already been caused.

For organisations with a large work force, high staff turnover or for organisations where for operational reasons it would take a large number of sessions to train all relevant staff on spill response, a train the trainer course may be a more effective way of rolling out spill response training as opposed to our standard sessions.

On a train the trainer course we train key personnel to deliver spill response training so that they can distribute it throughout your workforce. Personnel who typically attend the train the trainer course are Health Safety and Environment (HSE) managers, team leaders and internal training departments. The training consists of a detailed spill training course which includes a practical demonstration AND an assessment session where the delegates must give a portion of the presentation back to the trained and the other delegates, it is important staff booked on to the course are willing to pass the training on and that they have been made aware it is a Train the Trainer course.  This training is designed for companies looking to train staff in house and not for companies looking to offer spill training to other customers.

The Train the Trainer course aims to empower your staff to have the confidence and competence to use your spill containment facilities quickly, safely and effectively to protect health and safety and the environment. We can train up to 4 staff on each session. We offer discounts for multiple sessions and discounts for repeat business.

Our sessions are all tailored to your site specific risks but typically follow the same format, topics covered include:

• Training delegates on the hierarchy for importance when dealing with a spill protect health and safety, the environment and property.

• The effects different substances will have on the environment e.g oils, site specific chemicals, bodily fluids and foodstuffs e.g. milk and beer.

• Demonstrate the environmental sensitivity around your site e.g. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s), Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection areas. These will be reviewed in advance of the training using Defra data.

• Understanding different types of drainage systems.

• Explaining your site specific draining and highlighting key features associated with spills, e.g. interceptors and drain closure valves.

• Risk assessing spills based on type, quantity and location and discussing the health and safety aspects these factors can pose.

• Case studies demonstrating the health and safety, environmental and financial impacts spills can have.

• Post spill responsibilities including decontamination, waste disposal, incident reporting and restocking spill kits.

• Product training of the different components of your spill kits.

• Training on additional infrastructure you may have on site e.g. penstocks or closure valves.

• The delegates will clean up a spill of water, giving them the chance to use the products, including specialist products such as Dammit mats and Dammit paste. All materials will be provided by Spill Training UK

• Talk through your spill procedure and relate it to the lessons learned in the training session.

• 10 question multiple choice test - this can be given orally for delegates who struggle with reading and writing.

Our Training is built to meet all of the requirements of best practice guidelines released by the Environmental Regulators in the UK, and as such it covers:

“• Awareness of the potential for harm to people and the environment from the materials held on-site

• Information on the sensitivity of the environment surrounding the site

• The environmental responsibilities of your business

• Use of the correct personal protective equipment and any appropriate and/or necessary health and safety training

• Reporting procedures if there’s a risk of surface water, groundwater or land contamination

• Reporting to the local water/sewerage undertaker if a discharge to the foul or combined sewer is involved

• Safe and correct use of all spill clean-up equipment or pollution prevention structures and/or devices on site

• Safe handling and legal disposal of contaminated materials and wastes resulting from an incident, including arrangements for using specialist contractors and services

• Appropriate and safe decontamination.”

Taken from Guidance for Pollution Prevention 21 - Incident Response Planning

We have experience of training on a wide variety of sites and have built up an understanding of the site specific challenges our customers can face. Industries we have worked with include:

• COMAH sites

• Manufacturing

• Warehousing and distribution

• Hospitals (NHS and private)

• Universities and schools

• Care homes

• Wind farms

• Food manufacturing and abattoirs

• Data centers

• Council depots

If you have any questions of would like to discuss your requirements please get in touch.