Falck Safety Services secures IMIST accreditation in US

Access to a ground-breaking global training initiative which aims to transform safety and competency in the oil and gas industry continues to expand with the approval of five new invigilation centres in the US.

This accreditation of the Falck Safety Services centres in Houston, Brookshire, Lafayette, Houma, and New Orleans provides improved access for the energy industry across the Gulf of Mexico to the globally recognised basic safety standard, International Minimum Industry Safety Training (IMIST) Online.

IMIST was developed by global oil and gas training standards body OPITO International and sets a new global standard for health and safety training, providing a comprehensive and consistent level of training across the world and enhancing workforce safety and compliance.

The training standard ensures that workers have the necessary safety awareness in order to reduce risk and ultimately reduce the number of incidents. It is currently used by over 100 companies across 50 countries around the world.

The Falck centres already provide other OPITO-accredited safety courses including Tropical Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training, Tropical Helicopter Underwater Escape Training and Further Offshore Emergency Training, and they also have the potential to deliver IMIST to more than 6500 US-based oil and gas workers every year.

By gaining Atlas approval to deliver the course, workers using Falck Safety Services centres will have their IMIST training accepted by employers all over the world. It will also reduce the burden of training costs for companies with both new entrants and experienced workers able to undergo a full range of mandatory and voluntary health and safety courses under one roof.

Falck Safety Services CEO, Bryan LeCompte, commented: “It was important for us to gain approval in delivering this important safety training to the industry in the Gulf of Mexico where a lot of international oil and gas companies operate. The strategic network of centres we have in the region will provide oil and gas companies with a cost-effective channel to invest in the training and development of their people whilst remaining competitive in the current downturn.”

Kevin Short, Commercial Director at Atlas, added: “IMIST Online has the potential to not only help individual businesses improve their own efficiency but also the industry overall by enhancing the skills set of the transient workforce and making a significant contribution towards meeting one of the prime strategic needs of the modern-day industry: to take every opportunity to underpin health and safety performance and minimise accidents. We are delighted by the commitment demonstrated by Falck Safety Services towards growing the global footprint of centres capable of delivering IMIST and making this important training accessible through its strategic network of US centres.”

IMIST was launched in 2011 and is delivered via e-learning tailored to meet each region’s specific workforce, language and geographic needs. IMIST Online is delivered in partnership with international learning technologies company Atlas Knowledge Group via approved invigilation centres only.

This accreditation increases the total number of invigilation centre’s approved by Atlas to deliver the training around the world to 157. Facilities can be found in Australia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as well as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Nigeria among others.

Edited from press release by Angharad Lock

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/equipment-and-safety/17112015/falck-safety-services-secures-imist-accreditation-1624/