North Wales college the first and only Gold FE health and safety provider in UK

COLEG CAMBRIA has received gold status for its delivery of health and safety qualifications.

The North Wales college is the first and only FE provider in the UK to receive the accreditation from NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health).

The institution – which has sites in Wrexham, Deeside, Northop and Llysfasi – offers a National Diploma and a range of certificate-level programmes in fire safety, health and wellbeing, environmental, construction, and general health and safety.

Lecturers also tailor courses to match the needs of industry partners and have introduced shorter qualifications on themes including leadership excellence and incident investigation.

Lesley Rasmussen, Deputy Director of Cambria Business School in Northop, said receiving gold status is a huge achievement for the college.

“Coleg Cambria has a long-standing reputation for delivering excellent health and safety training up to NEBOSH Diploma level, so to be awarded a gold mark from the organisation is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone here,” she said.

“This gives the many employers we work with confidence they will receive a first-class teaching and learning experience and reinforces our position among the very best providers in the UK.”

NEBOSH Learning Partners are required to commit to six principles as part of their accreditation, and the organisation may award Silver and Gold status to those that demonstrate they exceed these principles.

The three tiers are Bronze, Silver and Gold with Bronze Learning Partners ‘meeting’ the Learning Partner Principles, Silver ‘exceeding’ and Gold ‘greatly exceeding’.

Cheryl Parkinson, a Health and Wellbeing tutor at Coleg Cambria, said the importance of good health, notably mental health, is more prevalent than ever before

She added: “Such is the importance placed on wellbeing, the Welsh Government introduced the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (Wales) in 2015, which placed responsibility on all public organisations to think about the impact of their decisions.

“Without good health and wellbeing in the workplace, research shows productivity decreases, workplace stress and anxiety rise, and this has an impact on the level of sickness absence and leaveism, factors that have a negative effect on the image and functioning of organisations.

“It is therefore important that employers, managers and employees take steps to promote positive health and wellbeing, recognise the warning signs and implement risk assessments.

“At Cambria we recognise how crucial this is to business and industry, and that is reflected in the courses we offer. For us to now be recognised as the benchmark for health and safety education in the UK is a major honour and makes us very proud.”

Chief Executive David Jones praised the Business School for securing the accolade and said: “To be the only college in the UK to receive the gold standard is incredible. This is a hugely important topic, and for us to be leading on it nationally is a massive achievement.”

Among the organisations to have worked closely with Cambria is Wales and West Utilities.

Colin Davies, a First Line Manager with the organisation, is studying at the Business School and paid tribute to the lecturers and staff.

“Demanding safety always is a key priority for Wales and West Utilities,” he said.

“Studying for NEBOSH qualifications at the Cambria Business School is helping to ensure I have all the skills I need to support the teams I manage to help them work safely.

“The flexibility of the course means I can fit my studies alongside my demanding job, in a supportive learning environment where I can share best practice with learners from lots of different sectors.”