BP Iraq employees get health-and-safety training in Scotland

Citation

(2013), "BP Iraq employees get health-and-safety training in Scotland", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 45 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2013.03745daa.006

BP Iraq employees get health-and-safety training in Scotland

Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 45, Issue 4

An Aberdeen-based consultancy has secured a contract to supply health-and-safety training products for BP workers in Iraq.

The contract will see Cresent deliver its control-of-work software system WorkSafe, e-learning, classroom-based learning, one-to-one and train-the-trainer sessions. All Cresent’s health-and-safety training products have been translated into Arabic and Mandarin specifically for the contract.

Cresent employee Tristan Ferris is project manager and the main liaison with the 750 Iraqi workers, who are travelling to Edinburgh for training sessions over a nine-month period.

Before joining Cresent, Tristan Ferris was an English-language teacher at Bournemouth Business School International. He has been learning Arabic to help to deliver the e-learning to the Iraqi personnel.

“I am responsible for facilitating all e-learning training courses in Cresent – onshore, overseas and offshore – delivering classroom-based courses and providing technical support,” he commented. “Helping companies to invest in their staff so they can realize their potential and giving them the opportunity to develop their skills is a key part of my job and is a key focus of the BP Iraq contract.

“Training and development can help to refocus and re-energize staff at a time when commitment and engagement are critical and effective learning is not just about the right information but the right way of communicating it. In order to effectively deliver the training for the Iraqi personnel who have been to, and continue to come to, Scotland, it is essential for me to be able to speak their language. Cresent has provided me with the required training.

“The Arabic lessons progressed well. Learning the pronunciation was tricky, but I really enjoyed it. The writing was particularly challenging. It is more difficult to learn than other languages as the script is different and each Arabic character can have several forms.

“WorkSafe helps to ensure a safe place of work through its series of documented procedures that define responsibilities, processes and work controls. Personnel are trained on how to ensure safe isolation of plant and equipment before beginning work in potentially hazardous operations. It helps employers to make significant safety improvements at their facilities while reducing operating costs and eliminating unnecessary, time-consuming paperwork.”

Cresent managing director Tracie Watson commented: “The BP Iraq contract involves many elements of our service offering. The excellent teaching skills Tristan has from his background as a lecturer are enabling him to facilitate the training for the Iraqi personnel.”