Case Studies

Targeting more specialised markets and customers required a total ‘site buy in’ to manufacturing excellence to ensure consistently high levels of performance in all areas. In order to achieve this the Company recognised that it needed to up-skill its workforce and so formulated a structured training and development programme.

It chose the nationally recognised Gold Standard competency framework developed by Cogent, the skills body for the science industries. The Standard focuses on four key areas; technical competence; business improvement; functional and behavioural skills and compliance for which the IOSH working safely certificate was chosen.

Because William Blythe’s Accrington plant is a top-tier COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards) site, it is heavily regulated and the Company must demonstrate ongoing competency of its employees particularly in activities that affect the safety, health and environment of its employees, customers and the local community. Ensuring its leadership team were trained and qualified to a nationally recognised qualification in these areas was also seen to be a key requirement.

As William Blythe’s Operations Director, Graham Smith, explained: “For our leadership team we wanted to develop their Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) knowledge further and for them to gain a credible nationally recognised award. Some of the existing Management team already had the NEBOSH General Certificate and so we earmarked the NEBOSH Health, Safety and Environment in the Process Industries qualification. It’s perfectly aligned to the Gold Standard, covering elements of the basic award, process safety and the environment and gives the right level of detail for the level of management we were targeting”.

“It’s helped our team put things into context. They can see how the legislation and our policies fit and the impact on our health, safety and environmental KPIs. Feedback from those who have taken the qualification has been excellent and most importantly we've seen an increase in people’s awareness of safety as knowledge has been passed down through the teams. Following on from their quality delivery of the Gold Standard we were also pleased that BIT by BIT Consultancy were an accredited training provider”.

Shift Manager, Dave Southward, who took the qualification, said it had been a big help taking the course: 

“It makes sense for people at our level to gain such a qualification as it broadens our knowledge base. I found it really interesting. It’s given me more confidence in my day-to-day role. People tend to listen more to someone they see day-to-day, and of course you can police things better. It has helped me see the bigger picture and attitudes have changed to safety. Everyone knows it’s everybody’s responsibility.”

William Blythe’s determination to improve the knowledge and skills of its workforce is paying dividends. The Company gained the prestigious national award from the Chemical Industries Association for skills development.

The Company decision has paid off and as well as improving SHE performance it is delivering increased profit which just shows that investing in the knowledge and skills of a workforce, through qualifications such as those provided by NEBOSH, can be very worthwhile.