About Us
Confined Space Auditing & Consulting.
Over 30 years of Health and Saftey Experience, with a Military career of 26 years using JSP 375 Confined space and 12 years with HSE Confined Space Regulations ACOP L101 ED 3, training personnel in Confined Space for over 20 years
Confined Space, Streetworks, National Water Hygiene, Face Fit, Trainer/Assessor/IQA.
Over 30 years of Training/Assessing and IQA experience in Confined Space, Street Works, National Water Hygiene, First Aid, Medical Gas, FaceFit. Our staff are available to train, assess or IQA at your Centres, Awarding Bodies Certified already as a Trainer/Assessor and Lead IQA (City and Guilds, CABWI, TQUK and EUSR)
Auditing & Consulting
Once the information is collected, our confined space assessor/auditor will produce a Site Assessment Review which will highlight the site’s confined spaces and other information such as:
- Identification number, location, and/or name of the confined spaces
- Brief description of the structure and the task or activity typically undertaken within the structure
- Type & Classification of the entry (Low, Medium or High)
- Hazard summary
- Present specified risks
- Any other additional hazards
Confined Space Auditing & Consulting
Our team has many years of experience working in a wide variety of confined space environments. In addition, we wrote an awarding bodies Confined Space courses, hence we are continually updating our knowledge and skills.
We typically find that most sites have a good depth of knowledge regarding their obligations and best practices regarding confined space operations, however in nearly all cases we are able to significantly assist in filling gaps in knowledge and generally improve safe work practices. BEST are true industry partners and our aim is to help you continually improve your confined space processes.
Some of the services we provide include:
- Confined space assessment/identification
- Confined space register - development, updates, and auditing
- Confined space risk registers
- Risk assessment and safe work method (RAMS) development and implementation
- Confined space rescue plan development
- Auditing, testing and training of confined space emergency response procedures
- Gas monitoring (as a service by trained and competent experts, or as a consulting service to improve your existing test regimes and equipment)
- Development and implementation of confined space permit systems
- Review and recommendations for improvements to site policy, procedure and work instructions regarding confined space operations
- The development of Confined Space Safety Management Systems
- Total site management for confined space works.
All our work is industry best practice and compliant with Confined Space Regulations, Approved Code of Practice (ACOP L101 ED 3) and National Occupational Standards (NOS)
National Water Hygiene (Blue Card) - NWH
Our team has many years of experience working and teaching NWH.
National Water Hygiene (‘Blue Card’) scheme plays a vital part in ensuring the protection of public health and promoting good water hygiene practices. The scheme has been developed in collaboration with all UK water companies.
All UK water companies require individuals entering clean water sites or working on the clean water network – known as ‘Restricted Operations’, to hold a National Water Hygiene EUSR registration.
‘Restricted Operations’ includes working on service reservoirs, water pumping stations, water treatment works, wells, springs, boreholes as well as working on the network of water mains and service pipes.
It’s not just water company employees. If you are working on a ‘Restricted Operation’ on behalf of a water company subcontractor or other organisation, such as Self-Lay Organisation (SLOs) – then you need a National Water Hygiene EUSR registration.
Once you have successfully completed your National Water Hygiene training and assessment, you will understand the vital part you play in maintaining clean and safe drinking water and protecting public health.
All new and renewal National Water Hygiene EUSR registrations are issued with a virtual card instead of the previous plastic card (also known as the ‘Blue Card’). Virtual cards mean you can never forget or lose your card and are easily accessible on any smartphone, tablet or iPad using the Vircarda app.
What’s covered?
The National Water Hygiene scheme is developed in collaboration with all UK water companies and key stakeholders from across the water industry, so you can be confident that the content covers all the required knowledge and awareness of good water hygiene practices:
There are four modules:
- Module 1: The importance of water
- Module 2: Water as a carrier of disease
- Module 3: Potential contamination and its consequences
- Module 4: Preventing contamination
Qualitative Face Fit / Face Fit Train the Trainer
Our team has many years of experience conducting and teaching Face Fits.
Where respiratory protective equipment (RPE) is used, it must be able to provide adequate protection for individual wearers. RPE can't protect the wearer if it leaks. A major cause of leaks is poor fit – tight-fitting facepieces need to fit the wearer's face to be effective.
As people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes it is unlikely that one particular type or size of RPE facepiece will fit everyone. Fit testing will ensure that the equipment selected is suitable for the wearer.
For more detailed information on fit testing RPE, read our publication Guidance on respiratory protective equipment (RPE) fit testing INDG479
What you need to do
The best time to do fit testing is at the initial selection stage, when individual users can be given a choice of adequate models of RPE. You should ensure that the make, model, type and size of facepiece that they wore when they had their successful fit test is made available for their use. If an employee wears more than one type of tight-fitting facepiece, then each type of facepiece should be fit tested.
How to do it
RPE fit testing should be conducted by a competent person - you should take steps to ensure that person who carries out the fit test is appropriately trained, qualified and experienced, and is provided with appropriate information to undertake each particular task.
A note on facial hair
Many masks rely on a good seal against the face so that, when you breathe air in, it is drawn into the filter material where the air is cleaned. If there are any gaps around the edges of the mask, 'dirty' air will pass through these gaps and into your lungs. It is therefore very important that you put your mask on correctly and check for a good fit every time.
Facial hair – stubble and beards – make it impossible to get a good seal of the mask to the face.
If you are clean-shaven when wearing tight-fitting masks (ie those which rely on a good seal to the face), this will help prevent leakage of contaminated air around the edges of the mask and into your lungs. You will therefore be breathing in clean air, which will help you stay healthy.
If there are good reasons for having a beard (eg for religious reasons), alternative forms of RPE, that do not rely on a tight fit to the face, are available.