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 centers in the US.
The accreditation of the Falck Safety Services centers in Houston, Brookshire, Lafayette, Houma, and New Orleans provides improved access for the energy industry across the Gulf of Mexico to the globally recognized basic safety standard, International Minimum Industry Safety Training (IMIST) Online.
Developed by global oil and gas training standards body OPITO International, IMIST 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 IMIST standard ensures that workers have the necessary safety awareness and training 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 centers, which 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, have the potential to deliver IMIST to more than 6500 US-based oil and gas workers every year.
IMIST Online is delivered in partnership with international learning technologies company Atlas Knowledge Group via approved invigilation centers only.
By gaining Atlas approval to deliver the course, workers using Falck Safety Services centers 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 chief executive officer Bryan LeCompte said: “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 minimize accidents.
IMIST was launched in 2011 and is delivered via e-learning tailored to meet each region’s specific workforce, language and geographic needs.
This latest accreditation brings the total number of invigilation center’s approved by Atlas, to deliver the training around the world to 157, with facilities spanning Australia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines as well as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Nigeria among others.
