TUC Occupational Health and Safety Awards

21st June 2009

Eight members of staff with The Highland Council, who represent their trade union colleagues in the workplace, have gained their TUC Occupational Health and Safety Diploma, through a health and safety training scheme sponsored by the Council and the TUC in association with Stow College, Glasgow. The diploma represents the completion of 55 days of training at the college and in the workplace and will help extend the promotion of health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace.

The full Diploma awards were presented to: -,

Peter Duncan, TEC Services, Inverness; (UNITE)
William Erskine, Chief Executive's Service, (UNISON)
Hugh Gunn, Social Work, Wick , (UNISON)
David Hannah, formerly TEC Services, Sutherland, (UNISON)
Thomas McCarthy, Social Work, Inverness, (UNITE)
Angus Munro, TEC Services, Portree, (UNISON)
Maurice Nicholson, Social Work Service, Inverness, (UNISON)
James Thomson, Education Culture and Sport, Dornoch, (GMB)

A certificate for successful completion of the Organisation & Law Units of the course goes to Alister Wemyss, TEC Services, (AMICUS)

The students completed 10 days of training in both the first two stages of the course and then 35 days training for the third stage. The diploma itself is broken down into core and skill modules. The core modules are health and safety organisation, health and safety law, health, safety and the environment and a research project unit. The skills modules are communications, information technology, working with statistics and problem solving. Successful completion of the course is recognised by IOSH for entry at the level of 'Tech IOSH'.

Councillor Carolyn Wilson, Chairman of the Council's Resources Committee, said: "My congratulations go to our staff for gaining this hard-earned diploma. It adds to the quality, and now quantity, of representatives that can support occupational health, safety and welfare. This is the only partnership agreement of its type in Scotland, and is a model that is held in the highest regard by the TUC, Stow College and the Council itself."