Safety Officer Course: With Great Heights Come Great Risks

A safety officer course offers many benefits to workplace environments. They ensure the appropriate employees are adequately trained and equipped to manage and ensure the health and safety of employees. However, safety officers in recreational sports often go unnoticed - even though they are crucial to the health and safety of both employees as well as participants.

One such sport is climbing. Climbers face extreme heights in their sports, but with great heights come great risks. This is why safety officers are invaluable in the industry, as safety officer courses equip you with the tools to assess and manage these risks.

EMCARE's safety officer course is one of these essential assets, offering training in health, safety and even heights. In this article, we discuss the role of a safety officer in climbing and how EMCARE's safety officer course is the best choice for you.

The Risks Of Climbing

Climbing is a high-risk recreational sport, with approximately twenty-five to fifty deaths per 100,000 participants. Additionally, it is estimated that over fifty percent of climbers experience a finger injury at some point. However, since rock climbing is the only sport to use all of the body - core, arms, legs, glutes and back - the risk of multifaceted injuries is always present. Not only is there dangerous to the physical body but hazards depend on the type of climbing you do.

There are eight different types including:

1. Mountaineering: Climbing with the purpose to summit a mountain.
   
   
2. Aid Climbing: Ascending a rock with the aid of equipment.
   
   
3. Ice Climbing: Climbing with rope to scale icy planes and cliffs.
   
   
4. Sport Climbing: Following a designed pre-bolted route.
   
   
5. Trad Climbing: When a climber places their protective gear and establishes a route themselves.
   
   
6. Bouldering: Using roped protection to scale small rocks under 16 feet in height, crash pads are often present to break falls.
   
   
7. Free Soloing: Climbing without any protection or height limit.
   
   
8. Deep Water Soloing: climbing without any protection except water underneath to catch a fall.

The Role Of Safety Officers In Climbing

Climbing is a consistently growing sport, and the statistics of deaths and injuries grow with it. It is therefore imperative that staff working with climbers take a reliable safety officer course. Safety officers are required to do all three levels of first aid courses to equip themselves with extensive knowledge of emergency responses. This enables a hands-on approach to any potential risks that may arise in the workplace.

However, safety officer courses offer more than just training in practical responses to emergencies, they also offer theoretical and management systems.

For instance, in mountaineering - climbers need to be equipped with oxygen bottles if summiting large mountains. Safety officers are taught to handle the occupational health of the gas and evaluate any potential hazards. Moreover, in climbing like bouldering, where safety mats are used, safety officer courses offer instructions on protective equipment, and monitoring the environment. In the case that accidents do happen, safety officers are taught accident investigation skills and recording any incidents.

Even organising climbing gear like helmets and ropes fall under the duties of a safety officer. Without them, climbing safety in many instances would be unattainable. Holistically, safety officers are taught a plethora of universal skills in a safety officer course. All modules can be applied to the job and ensure the health and safety of everyone involved both on a theoretical documentation level and a practical implementation level.

Receiving training from the proper and accredited services is crucial for this implementation to be to the highest standards and per governing body requirements. Safety officers can only provide the correct guidance if trained extensively, which is why EMCARE should be your first choice.

EMCARE's Safety Officer Course

EMCARE offers a safety officer course package unlike any other. We offer extensive training in both the practical and theoretical aspects of being a safety officer. Our course is made up of ten in-depth modules which are compliant with South African legislation. The modules include:

• Basic Principles Of SHE Rep
• Legislation
• Occupational Health
• Risk Assessment (HIRA)
• Contractor Safety Management
• Technical Safety
• Environmental Management
• Management Systems
• Accident Incident Investigation
• Health And Safety File Implementation

All modules are taken over a two week period, with an additional day for online assessment of each module. These modules can be completed individually on any of the dates available in our training schedule. Once they have all been completed, access to the final exam with case studies will be granted.

Upon completion of the safety officer course, you receive a certificate that can be registered with the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (SAIOSH). For individual course modules, there is a two-year expiration date for your certificate, however, there is no expiry date once it is registered with SAIOSH. Additionally, all learner manuals, training equipment and presentation equipment are all included in the course.

Our safety officer course should be your first choice because we equip you with every skill you need and more. We are passionate about the health and safety industry and work with you to soar to great heights. There are many risks in industries like climbing, but as a company that understands the responsibilities, we can assist you in managing yours. So, get in touch with us today.

Get In Touch

If you want to pursue great heights, we can help take you there with the proper risk and protocol training. EMCARE's safety officer course package is all-inclusive and provides potential safety officers with sufficient training from a leading health and safety company. If you would like to know more about the package, you can read more about our course online. Alternatively, to get in touch with us fill out a form on our website and we will answer any concerns or queries you have. We look forward to scaling this journey with you.