AROUND THE CLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK Each month we catch up with a health & safety professional
to find out about their varied work/life balance. This month we caught up with Gary Fallaize, Managing Director of RRC International.
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WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES? My main focus is on the design and development of
our courses along with sales and marketing. I am not a safety professional in the traditional sense, I started life as an accountant.
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HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY? It was purely accidental; I was looking for a new
challenge and replied to an advert for the Rapid Results College. When I joined RRC was a generalist training company and I led its evolution to the specialist business it is today.
WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE THIS JOB? I worked as the UK group accountant for a
small multinational PLC, the company dealt with manufacturing and importing specialist electronic components.
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WHAT DO YOU DO IN A TYPICAL DAY? It sounds cliché, but there is no such thing as a
typical day. It just depends on what the priorities are that particular week. I have recently been working on: projects to improve the effectiveness of our online courses, specifications for new courses and specifying bespoke training requirements for our clients, liaising with NEBOSH on various issues, training RRC staff in the UK and Middle East, and reviewing and re-working work instructions.
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WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE OR PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
There have been many and it is difficult to pinpoint the best moments. I am motivated by the feedback and success of our learners. It makes me immensely proud to see the work our tutors and staff put in to make this happen.
The other thing that always gives a great sense of satisfaction is the incredible work our examinations team do. They administer six major exam sittings per year for around 3,000 learners sitting exams in 100 countries. It is a real feat of effective administration.
WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? I would say meeting our learners, and this is
something I don’t do often enough these days. It is always great to get their feedback and experiences, which is essential in enabling us to continually improve our courses. It really helps to maintain perspective as a training company. Our job is to make it as easy for them as possible to study and achieve their goals, whether that be gaining knowledge, achieving a certificate or diploma - and their input is essential.
WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF YOUR JOB? Bureaucracy, the world has gone mad with tick
box regulation, with a “computer says no” attitude to anything that does not fit in the appropriate box. It can make innovation difficult at times.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYONE STARTING OUT IN THE INDUSTRY?
You need to have a passion for the subject, health and safety is imperative and cannot be done as a nine to five perfunctory role. I have been lucky to meet some very inspiring professionals, passionate about their job with a strong desire to continually improve their knowledge and the safety of their workforce, these are the people those starting in the industry need to emulate.
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HOW DO YOU LIKE TO UNWIND? The grandchildren are always fun to see and they
keep me on my toes. Other than that, I have a small cottage in the southern Spanish mountains which is a really relaxing place to go. In my spare time I also enjoy martial arts and volleyball.
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WHAT CAREER WOULD YOU LIKE IF YOU WEREN’T DOING THIS?
Something very different, working outside on land management.
www.tomorrowshs.com
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