TRAINING and HEALTH & SAFETY W


Jim Brown, Estate & Property Manager at De Vere Oulton Hall in Leeds, looks at the connection between training and health and safety


hen I gained my D32 - D33 assessor qualification with The GTC over ten years ago, little


did I realise that, whilst I was meeting the needs of my trainee at that time, I was then going to go on and assist over ten more trainees with their NVQ’s. As I remember it, the assessor award was merely formalising my existing skills - that of assessing the learner, something I do on a daily basis. I came through the old City & Guilds phases system and, whilst the ‘chalk and talk’ system worked for me, it was clear that there were those around me who found it difficult - and for a number of reasons. Some suffered dyslexia, some just weren’t academics, whilst others were simply distracted by the previous night’s entertainment! For these reasons the National Vocational Qualification was a real step forward for the people who expressed their skills practically. Now, don’t get me wrong, the NVQ system has its weaknesses and, whilst the colleges do their very best to maintain a good standard of knowledge delivery, there is a huge responsibility on the trainee and, of course, the work based trainer/assessor, in this case - me. As an example, if I do not make time for the trainee to learn, or if he/she displays no enthusiasm for the knowledge both myself and the college are trying to deliver, it all falls down - often leading to the trainee ‘dropping out’ or, even worse, leaving the golf course/club disillusioned. It is very much a three way partnership - the trainee, the college work based assessor and the golf course manager. Should either one of us not ‘sign up’ to the training agreement, the system fails. It is fair to add that in the instance there is no real buy-in from the course manager or head groundsman, the trainee can still obtain the necessary information to qualify, but it does make the process onerous, not to mention the lack of opportunity for the trainee to have his/her practical skills assessed properly, all leading to a weak qualification.


Let’s look at the value of the NVQ and, more specifically, level 2 sportsturf.


Jim Brown Jim Brown


The NVQ level 2 sportsturf qualification is aimed at delivering the fundamentals of greenkeeping and sportsturf maintenance - an


introduction to the world of weeds, grasses, mowing and simple agronomics. It could be argued, more importantly, that it involves health and safety in the workplace and first aid. Whatever your thoughts, it delivers a range of education ideally suited for the situation and, therefore, should be considered as very important. So how do you deal with the situations when you’re too busy to share your experience with the trainee, or the trainee is not displaying any enthusiasm for the training? It’s simple


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132