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zoltangera  
#1 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:01:07(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
zoltangera

..this has happened today for a health and safety course we have paid a lot of money for.

Fuming

colinreeves  
#2 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:10:19(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
colinreeves

Had this once (I was one of the employees). Turned out the letterws were still in a secretaries out-tray .....
zoltangera  
#3 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:15:35(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
zoltangera

colinreeves wrote:
Had this once (I was one of the employees). Turned out the letterws were still in a secretaries out-tray .....


You had me sweating then........until I remembered I gave each delegate course details by hand!
colinreeves  
#4 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:17:45(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
colinreeves

Fume away then!
zoltangera  
#5 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:19:21(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
zoltangera

colinreeves wrote:
Fume away then!


LEV may be needed quite soon!
sean  
#6 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:20:20(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Guest

Had the same situation with a few of my H&S reps not attending college, but also not phoning work.
If they have missed a training course on a work day and they didn't inform you, they are AWOL, and therefore should be dealt with accordingly.

Since my last episode, not a single days training has been missed since.
Good Luck
Sean
A Kurdziel  
#7 Posted : 24 September 2010 14:39:50(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
A Kurdziel

Recently I had a room filled with assorted managers directors and stuff and the trainer did not turn up! What had happened was that rather than going through his secretary (who was on leave) I contacted the trainer directly. So he pencilled in the date and then double booked. Not a good place to be.
Helmsman  
#8 Posted : 24 September 2010 16:26:17(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
Helmsman

I have first aid training all organised for Wednesday next week and now I am going to have to check up on the venue, the trainer and the delegates. Thanks.
CRN Baker  
#9 Posted : 28 September 2010 13:08:47(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
CRN Baker

Zoltangera I empathise... I regularly used to suffer with this as shift patterns seemed to mean that training got in the way of peoples lives!!
Training was always advised to managers well in advance (3 months in most cases) so that arrangements for shift changes etc could be agreed and then reminders given and yet attendance was still poor. When career objectives and performance standards required attendance at training courses, then things started to change!
Attendance was very rarely an issue with the operatives as generally they were glad of an opportunity for improvement.
I suppose it often depends on the approach of the company and how much emphasis is put on the importance of training whether it is H&S or some other field.
sean  
#10 Posted : 28 September 2010 16:01:40(UTC)
Rank: Guest
Guest

Zoltangera, I would like to hear how you get along with this problem of non attendance, as stated earlier, non attendance is the same as AWOL
stuie  
#11 Posted : 28 September 2010 22:21:26(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
stuie

I make sure that memo's etc have been sent out in plenty of time, and then as we cross charge training back to relevant departments; I make the dept heads aware that they will be 'paying' for the training regardless and if they fail to send a delegate or the delegate fails to turn they will be invited to the next course - costing their department twice for the training - attendance has improved somewhat since I started doing this! I do make allowances if there is time to find a replacement for someone that is genuinely unable to attend.
Saying that I did have one departmental manager not attend because I did not send him a reminder - he had the date in his diary etc but because there was no reminder he did not attend - I got a bit hot under the collar that morning! 'savage' was the term I think I used.
mgray  
#12 Posted : 28 September 2010 23:41:36(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
mgray

As they say the commitment comes from the top so HR should be informed and action taken with full management backing.
MG
johnmurray  
#13 Posted : 29 September 2010 00:48:13(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
johnmurray

I did that once.
Well, I attended the manual handling training but refused the "test" lifts.
The management were not pleased, the trainer was not pleased.
The test lift was a 25 litre paint drum with a dozen very large bolts in it...about 25kg.
Another looked at it, then went and got a lift truck to lift it onto the bench !
Management issued a verbal warning; I complained to HSE.
The trainer/s were instructed to alter the course.
Who won ?
Nobody.
Bad course, with the potential (very real) to actually injure people.
Barrie(Badger)Etter  
#14 Posted : 29 September 2010 08:33:50(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Barrie(Badger)Etter

mgray wrote:
As they say the commitment comes from the top so HR should be informed and action taken with full management backing.
MG

Six months in as a new safety adviser at my last company, I set up a training session for all the senior managers and even sent reminders. I sat there for 20 mins with no show from anyone and not even an apology. 3 yrs later the company was force to close very abruptly!

Badger
Fletcher  
#15 Posted : 29 September 2010 08:57:33(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Fletcher

Morning,

What you can do really depends on the backing you get from your executive/senior managers.
In the past I have been able to affect bonus and advancement of key employees through a requirement for an individual safety assessment.
It worked with the Engineering Manager when it was pointed out to him that he would lose a large % of his bonus if he did not start attending Safety Committee meetings.

I would also note that getting people to attend may be one problem but getting positive participation can be a bigger one. That really depends on the quality of the course and its presenter.
Horses and water come to mind

Take Care
decimomal  
#16 Posted : 29 September 2010 10:14:35(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
decimomal

Did anybody turn up?

Was it a mix up with organisation, did they know where to go etc?

My understanding of Section 7(b)of HASAWA is that employee's are required to cooperate with the employer to enable him/her to comply with their duties. With regard to training the employee therfore has a duty to attend.

If there is no reasonable 'excuse' for missing the training then it becomes an HR/disciplinary issue.
The UNIQUE 1  
#17 Posted : 06 October 2010 14:03:37(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
The UNIQUE 1

As a trainer myself i work for some organisations who have repeat offenders in the missing training department, so as a detterrant they decided to take the cost of the course and divide it either by the maximum number of delegates or the number of delegates invited and charge them accordingly if they did not turn up, this seemed to work quite well.
kev3152  
#18 Posted : 07 October 2010 08:33:47(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
kev3152

The problem with charging back the cost of abortive training to the delegates is that the employer is not allowed to make a deduction from their pay or wages unless it is required or allowed by law, (for example National Insurance, income tax or student loan repayments), or they agree in writing to a deduction, or their contract of employment says they can.
If the employees have agreed in writing to a deduction then they have to do this before the employer wishes to make the deduction, so it's illegal to just dock their wages.

johnmurray  
#19 Posted : 07 October 2010 08:52:01(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
johnmurray

Which will just go onto the [long] list of laws that many employers disregard in normal everyday work.
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