A sub sea services company specialising in the offshore and onshore monitoring and removal of radiological contamination is training two of its key staff in health physics with assistance from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise (CASE).
Fathoms Ltd, which operates from Wick harbour, has received a training and development scheme grant from the local enterprise company to allow the two members of staff to undertake City and Guilds levels one and two in radiation safety practice.
To carry out the work Fathoms do it is a requirement that the company has on hand qualified health physics staff and until now the company has brought in this expertise on a consultancy basis.
Having qualified health physics staff in the company will significantly reduce operational and logistical difficulties for Fathoms, as well as overhead costs and will allow it to compete more widely.
The courses are run by North Highland College in Thurso on a day release basis. Mr Jim Cassidy and Mr Ian Walters began the course in September and are both doing well.
Mr Matthew French, director of Fathoms said: "There is a UK wide shortage of qualified health physics staff so having Jim and Ian trained up will be a huge bonus for the company."
Caroline Reilly, a development manager with CASE, said: "We want to use the advantage the decommissioning of UKAEA gives us to establish the area as a centre of expertise in decommissioning and engineering skills, knowledge and techniques, allowing local businesses to exploit the global market."