The Future of Post 16 Skills

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education published the Post-16 Skills Plan on 8 July 2016. The Plan is the Government’s response to the Report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education chaired by Lord Sainsbury and comprising of representatives from business, Higher Education and Further Education, as well as Alison Wolf who produced the Wolf Repor...

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Another incident that could have been avoided with the correct training

A road worker slicing his leg with a cut-off (Stihl) saw resulting in 60 stitches cost a Council £500,000. The injured person had been using the cut-off saw to cut a branch of a tree. The saw had been fitted with a blade unsuitable for the task. A manager at The London Borough of Havering had bought the blade and it had previously used for a similar task. It was found that there was generic risk a...

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Why IOSH Managing Safely can be essential to every business

A lorry driver was overcome by hydrogen sulphide in his trailer whilst unloading pig carcasses. The Hydrogen Sulphide was produced by the rotting carcasses. Two other workers were also affected by the gas after entering the trailer to rescue the driver. The driver suffered cuts and bruises and one of his colleagues spent a 5 days in hospital

Their employers, from Stoke-on-Trent, were recently f...

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Merit Skills passes the Health and Safety Audit

We are pleased to report on our successful audit of our Safety, Health, Environmental & Quality practices and procedures which was carried out by Achilles Verify. The auditor spent a day with us reviewing our processes, procedures and facilities.

Our results were as follows:

Thi...

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Ted Jackson Joins Merit Skills

Ted Jackson joined Merit Skills at the beginning of July; after several years with a national training organisation. Ted brings 18 years experience in training and assessment of water industry and health and saftey subjects. Ted is a qualified Assessor, Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) and has worked with several awarding bodies supporting both Internal Quality Control and Compliance. In recent year...

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Merit Skills Wins Water Industry Training Organisation of the Year 2016

Merit Skills Ltd was thrilled to attend the Institute of Water's President's Dinner and Awards evening at the Council House in Birmingham on Friday 13 May, where we were presented with Water Industry Training Organisation of the Year 2016. 

CABWI presented, jointly with The Energy and Utility Skills Group, three important awards recognising contributions to skills and training in the Water Indu...

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Career and Qualification Progression in the Water Industry

We are often asked about career and qualification progression by potential clients and learners as well as those on programme. We have put together the following diagram to help demonstrate clearly which water industry qualifications relate to each other and provide progression from Level 1-4.

You can find more information on our qualification page and on our training page regarding specific q...

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Third Party Approval for our Butt and Electro Fusion Training and Assessment

Merit Skills has recently gained approval by CABWI Awarding Body for their Butt and Electro Fusion training and assessment programme. Merit Skills provides Butt and ...

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Top 10 Reasons to Hire an Apprentice

It's National Apprenticeship Week so here are some of the top reasons to hire an apprentice at your business:

1. An Apprenticeship is funded when the Apprentice is aged 16 to 24, this means that you as a business will not have to cover the costs of training during the duration of the apprenticeship

2. Because the Apprenticeship is funded by an external source recruitment costs will b...

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New Streetworks Cards

As of January 2016, the SWQR cards have moved onto a new improved style card that incorporates some additional security features. They have introduced a Holo Image feature and a more distinctive Street Works logo in the inference ink.

All current cards will still be valid until the expiry date on the card and candidates updating their ID cards from August onwards with receive the new style ID...

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Streetworks Fines

Utility companies and councils could be fined up to £5,000 a day for leaving roadworks unmanned at weekends according to the Department for Transport, the BBC reports today.

Councils and utility companies could be fined for needlessly inconveniencing drivers if they leave roadworks in place over weekends when no work was being carried out.

Fines could also be levied on contractors who le...

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Water UK Updated Guidance – Personnel Qualifications

The latest ‘Principles of Water Supply Hygiene’ guidance from Water UK has updated the recommended qualifications for constructors and operators of water networks to minimise the risk of possible contamination of supplies.

TGN2 - DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM (NEW MAINS AND SERVICES) “Laying new mains and services requires personnel to hold registration under an approved hygiene scheme and carry a v...

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