THE north's largest health and safety training facility ITS has recorded a 20 per cent rise in the number of qualifications delivered following a £150,000 expansion.
The Portadown-based firm recently moved to new 10-acre purpose-built premises just off the M1 motorway which has vastly extended the scope of its training offering.
Managing director Brendan Crealey said the growth had cemented the position of ITS as Northern Ireland's leading provider of health and safety training solutions to the construction, civil engineering, utilities, manufacturing sectors and beyond.
"In the 15 years since ITS was established, we have provided training to around 50,000 people," he said.
"That includes more than 7,000 qualifications delivered in 2016 alone – 20 per cent higher than 2014."
The nature of training had changed markedly over the past decade, he said, as standards of occupational wellbeing improved across all sectors.
"ITS’ facility was specially designed to provide training for covered street works, confined spaces, scaffolding and working at heights, operating large plant and machinery, first aid and safety in excavations," he added.
"The most common types of training we provide have traditionally been specialist qualifications for the construction industry, while there is always high demand for emergency first aid training and our manual handling course.
“However, a growing area is guidance for working in confined spaces which has experienced a 50 per cent rise in participant numbers in the past two years as enquiries, especially from the food manufacturing sector, have increased."
Also, this month, the firm has taken delivery of a new dumper, digger, roller and other plant and machinery amounting to around £50,000 investment – meaning candidates on plant and machinery courses will now be trained on the most up-to-date vehicles available.
