Free Training for ConCom Clients and Contractor Members – Mental Health First Aid Awareness. Taking place at CATCH on the 24th November, AM or PM Sessions available – please contact Jane for further details – jane.winship@catchuk.org or download the event flyer Concom Mental Health First Aid Awareness Flyer

The Annual ConCom Apprentice of the Year Awards were presented yesterday afternoon at CATCH!!

Our three worthy winners were congratulated and presented with their trophies by Ian Laverick, Novartis, ConCom Committee Chair. After, Paul Bevan, EP SHB, ConCom Vice Chair presented them with their prize money.

3rd place and with a cheque for £200, Charlie Flemming of EP SHB
2nd place and with a cheque for £300, Will Lambert of Prax LOR
ConCom Apprentice of the Year – 1st place, with a cheque for £500, was Matthew Lister of TesTex NDT Ltd

On behalf of the ConCom Team and Steering Committee – many congratulations and we look forward to seeing you have safe and long careers!

CATCH hosted the Major Hazards Network on Thursday 21 July.  The group was attended by over 20 in person and online delegates and forms one of the core networks for CATCH membership services.

David Hughes welcomed delegates to the Major Hazards Network and introduced our guest speaker Gus Carroll, CEO and Founder of Empirisys.  Gus presented details of the Energy Institute decarbonisation good practice programme.  The EI has established Hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage as a new area of focus.  Gus outlined the 2021 Hydrogen work programme which received funding support from the Industrial Decarbonisation Research & Innovation Centre.  Work commenced in 2021 including subjects like competence, skills and training for the transition to hydrogen, environmental impacts of the large-scale deployment of hydrogen, development of a safety case for hydrogen storage and distribution by pipeline and Infrastructure integration & Asset integrity in repurposing existing natural gas infrastructure for hydrogen.

Gus outlined the range of new challenges presented by increasing use of hydrogen and its derivatives LH2, NH3, LOHC & MCH.  The safety impact for UK for these changes is extremely important during the energy transition and EI are leading this work through four further funded projects:

• Export & import of hydrogen and liquid derivatives
• Large scale storage of hydrogen
• Incident data management for QRAs and HAZOPs in the context of hydrogen safety cases
• Guidance on the development of safety case for hydrogen storage and distribution

Gus outlined future topics that are under consideration for funding in 2023.  The Energy Institute is keen to speak to companies at the fore front of the energy transition to help shape and direct their work.  If you are interested, please contact Mark Scanlon mscanlon@energyinst.org

Following a break Gus was kindly able to present on a separate topic of the COMAH Strategic Forum which was established in 2013 and Gus has recently taken over as chair of the Forum.  The CSF is comprised of the 3 competent authorities, COMAH sector representatives (including Trade Associations) and Unions.  The forum sets the longer term strategic direction for UK onshore major accident regulation.  The forum has been able to improve communication and knowledge exchange between the various stakeholders through guidance and good practice guides.

CSF current priorities include embedding principles of process safety leadership, greater transparency, driving proportionate regulatory scrutiny based on performance, clear standards and expectations and encouraging regulators to operate in a joined up way.  The CSF has recognised a number of drivers of change for COMAH regulated industries such as net zero targets, growth of new technologies such as hydrogen production and storage, ageing assets and ageing workforce challenges and embedding digital technologies.  Gus outlined the CSF’s response to these aspects shared some of the safety challenges that may arise from inexperienced operators and ambitious research institutions, not familiar with the regulatory framework whilst regulators are carefully managing budgetary constraints.  CSF are set to publish their 5 year strategy and are keen to engage a wide range of stakeholders through the CSF open forum on 14 November.

Empirys is an organisation that uses data science to help high hazard businesses operate more safely and more reliably.  The business is supported by a talented team of 12 data scientists, process engineers, asset operators and software engineers – more details are available here and via Gus Carroll gus@empirisys.io

The next Major Hazards Network will be held on 3^rd November at CATCH.

CATCH core network groups are for member companies, for more information please contact katie.hedges@catchuk.org

Happy International Dog Day!

We celebrated by having a bring your dog to work day and they took part in several competitions to win medals!

The winners are..

Most like its owner:

1st Place – Buster (Keith Eddom)

2nd Place- Arnold (James McIntosh)

3rd Place – Molly (Paul Snowden)

Cutest:

1st Place – Blue (Yasmin Smith)

2nd Place- Pippa (Paul Raithby)

3rd Place- Bertie (Jess Bocock)

Naughtiest:

1st Place- Malcolm (Eve McIntosh)

2nd Place- Arnold (James McIntosh)

3rd Place- Ernie (Libbi Dimbleby)

Waggiest Tale:

1st Place – Abbie (Katie Hedges)

2nd Place- Oscar (Lesley Pickard)

3rd Place- Bella (Paul Raithby)

Well- Behaved:

1st Place- Dolly (Leah Lewis)

2nd Place- Ronnie (Leah Lewis)

3rd Place – Alfie (Jasmine Greenhalgh)

Best Tricks:

1st Place- Teddy (Jess Bocock)

2nd Place- Norris (Daisy Seddon)

3rd Place- Abbie (Katie Hedges)

CATCH Skills ran a bespoke 1- Day Emergency Response training course for the employees at YARA. Using their procedures, we created a programme to incorporate important roles the employees may face within their jobs.

Martin Jones, HESQ Manager and Process Safety Coordinator said, “Fantastic course, very relevant and extremely well planned – the teams were free from site distractions and able to fully concentrate on the tasks in hand – mistakes were made and learning in a safe and open environment meant we can build people up – wonderful course”

The teams took part in several scenarios around the National Centre for Process Manufacturing (NCPM) including a forklift collision which required a first aid exercise to traumatic leg injuries and a leaking diesel tanker with 4000 litres potentially leaking into a local watercourse. We take pride in making all our scenarios realistic and create the industrial environment. We brought in a real-life volunteer to play the casualty and it was that realistic the fire brigade heard the screams and checked to see if we needed any assistance.

Holly Goodwin, CATCH Skills Account Manager added,

“CATCH Skills provide their customers with the opportunity to tailor our courses to meet their individual company requirements and standards.  This involves our Commercial Team arranging a scope meeting with the customer, to understand their requirements in further detail.

No course is the same, just like no business works in the same way. This is what makes the bespoke option crucial to ensure each customer is satisfied with the training.  The team have tailored courses to replicate scenarios that may appear on customers sites, they have implemented familiar documentation such as permit to works, risk assessments and procedures for the delegates attending, and they have used real equipment donated from the customers within the demonstrations and practical elements.

The feedback we have received from both companies and trainers, is that the delegates are much more engaged and feel confident applying what they have learnt to their individual job roles.”

For more information on these programmes or to find out how we can assist you and your training needs, contact Holly on 01469 552841 or email info@catchuk.org

Did you know that ten years ago, Maersk Training UK was the first training provider in the UK to be approved for delivery of GWO training?

To celebrate, we’re opening our doors across the UK for a series of summer barbeques, and we’d love to invite you along to take a look at our centres in Grimsby, Lowestoft & Newcastle.

We’ll be running demonstrations across the day, showcasing our courses and helping you understand how our training fits into the wind energy sector. We’ll also be hosting live Q&A sessions so you can ask about technical roles in wind energy, and there’ll be plenty of information for you to take away.

Food & drinks will be provided, and we’re welcoming both public and corporate guests, so come along – you never know who you’ll meet:

• CATCH – Grimsby, Redwood Park Estate, Stallingborough, DN41 8TH –
August 11th 10am-2pm
• Lowestoft, Energy Skills Centre, Lowestoft Campus, Rotterdam Road,
Lowestoft, NR32 2PJ
August 25th 10am – 2pm
• Newcastle, Orion Business Park, 2 Mercury Court, North Shields, NE29 7SN
September 8th 10am – 2pm

For more information or to register for a ticket reach out to the team at uk-bookings@maersktraining.com

Not-for-profit Membership and Training organisation CATCH has seen a increase in headcount, since launching its new Apprenticeship provision late 2021.

And it is set to increase further, with a significant investment of 11 new roles created in the new department to ensure quality delivery.  The Stallingborough based provider has had huge demand in their apprenticeship provision with over 100 new apprentices starting in September.

James McIntosh, Chief Operating Officer said the people at CATCH were the companies “greatest asset” and “essential to the growth of CATCH”.

“The growing demand for highly skilled people in industry is only going to increase, we have a highly talented team, with the majority of our people being specialists in their area”

“CATCH plays a key part in our regional economy and industry, and we need to attract new team members to support the ever growing skills needs of our members”

“Our region is seeing billions of pounds of investment, and with that comes the challenge of retaining and upskilling existing staff, but also attracting new people and young people into industry”

CATCH is uniquely positioned to provide companies with specialist training and apprenticeships just for the process, energy, engineering and renewable industries.

Jasmine Greenhalgh, Business Support Officer, added “CATCH is a people centric business, and we work hard to make sure our people are happy, from our above average salaries to flexible working, to investing in our team through Professional CPD, we commit to providing a positive and equal organisational culture where all voices are heard”.

“To support our ambitious plans, we are currently hiring for a mixture of new roles, including Teaching, Learning & Safeguarding Lead and an Apprenticeship Centre Manager”.

Click here to view our latest vacancies