Obtaining safety qualifications can be a great way to boost your career. A growing number of companies are prioritising safety, and hiring staff who are already trained can reduce the need to put existing employees on courses. Not only safety qualifications boost your employability, but they could potentially increase your pay - some reports have found that employees with these additional qualifications often earn 20% more.
But just what types of safety qualifications should you be looking into? It depends on what industry you’re trying to get into and the environment you’ll be working in. There are individual safety qualifications relevant to offices, labs, restaurants and construction sites. This post delves into a few different credentials that could be worth exploring.
First aid training
First aid training is relevant to all types of workplace. This safety training can teach you how to help injured colleagues - which can include providing first aid procedures like CPR and wound care. There are different levels of first aid training that you can look into from basic awareness courses to 3 day higher-risk first aid at work courses.
Fire warden training
Fire warden training teaches you to deal with fires in the workplace. This includes teaching you how to identify risks, how to lead an evacuation, and how to operate a fire extinguisher. There are short online courses you can take and more extensive in-person courses. Some courses can be catered to certain industries.
IPAF Licence
To operate powered access equipment like scissor lifts and cherry pickers, you need an IPAF (International Powered Access Federation) licence. Such a licence is useful in industries like construction and maintenance, as well as some niche jobs like painting and tree work. A few variations of this license exist around the world such as a EWP ticket in Australia.
COSHH certification
COSHH stands for Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health. This certification can teach individuals how to deal with various hazardous substances like gases, chemicals, dusts, fumes and liquids. In many jobs that involve heavy handling of chemicals like lab work, COSHH certification can be useful and sometimes necessary for employment.
NEBOSH training
NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) training covers a wide array of practical safety skills. From hazard identification to emergency planning, these globally recognized diplomas teach you everything you need to know to get into high risk sectors like gas and oil - and such qualifications can lead to executive roles.
IChemE qualifications
IChemE qualifications are specific qualifications to engineering that focus on preventing major incidents in chemical plants and refineries. These qualifications can help propel you towards senior engineering positions, and often emphasise sustainable practices as well as health and safety practices.
These are just a handful of some of the safety qualifications that are out there. Take your time to explore different courses relevant to your ideal industry. Some companies will pay new recruits to go on these courses, but there are other cases where already having these qualifications can put you at an advantage.