Classroom training or customized training? That’s the choice many companies face when they want their staff trained. At the Radboud University in Nijmegen, they opted for the customized training course “Expert Competence Statement under 3.14 PGS 15,” developed specifically for all employees dealing with storage of dangerous goods. Our instructor Jannie van Vliet-van Peski designed and delivered this training. Useful and effective, she and RU team leader Ruud Patings tell us.
The Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics (Radboud University) has several departments where dangerous goods are handled. One is the Logistics Center. The faculty’s PGS 15 bunker stores some 5,500 kg of packaged hazardous substances, says Logistics Center team leader Ruud Patings: “It’s like a library of pharmacy cabinets. There are about 7,000 different substances in circulation at our faculty, where tests for practical education are done. We also have several laboratories where research is done. The Logistics Center makes sure those substances are all stored safely, in different PGS 15 compartments per hazard class.”
Examplary role
He continued: “As a university, we naturally have an exemplary role. It is therefore very important to me that all processes in our bunker are safe and in accordance with the regulations. Also in view of the inspections from the government you want to have your affairs in good order. That is why my colleagues and I started a PGS 15 training at the beginning of last year, at another training institute. Actually, we didn’t like that very much. My colleague then said, ‘If you really want quality, you have to be with ‘Miss Jannie’.” Miss Jannie? Yes, that’s teacher Jannie van Vliet-van Peski of Special Cargo College! (The photo above this article shows Jannie at work during another training session, not at Radboud University.)
Proficiency
Jannie immediately hooks into that, from the content: “Regulation 3.14 of the PGS 15 states that for storage of more than 2,500 kg – as at the RU – an ‘expert’ must always be present in the storage facility. You can get that certificate with our Hazardous Materials Handling Competency Training (VBGS) course.. However, the situation at RU turned out to be too specific for this classroom training.” Ruud adds: “Our storage is of course different from a logistics provider’s warehouse. More different substances but smaller quantities, always delivered by couriers. And often without a waybill. That’s why, in consultation with Special Cargo, we decided to organize a tailor-made training course at our location. This also had a very practical reason: in accordance with PGS 15, we are not all allowed to leave here at the same time to go to a Special Cargo training location. And what was also nice: when Jannie came to us for the first time, she could immediately assess whether our storage is safe and compliant. Fortunately, she found that we had it right.”
No unnecessary ballast
“Such custom training is not a problem at Special Cargo,” says Jannie. “We come to companies’ homes just as easily, for in-company or customized training. Of course, that has even more advantages for the organization: we can tailor the training one hundred percent to the situation and needs of that particular client.” No sooner said than done. After the initial visit to RU, Jannie set to work developing the customized training. She did so based on the VBGS course. As with this training, it was four class days including a practice day Calamity Response. “On this day the participants practiced with their own, specific scenarios. So without the ‘unnecessary ballast’ from the VBGS training,” Jannie explains.
“With customized training like this, RU employees meet the PGS 15 requirement of expert training, but in a piece of customized training.”
Statement of Competence
In the end, thirteen people took the course. In addition to three participants from the Logistics Center, 10 other RU employees attended. Following the training, participants took the accompanying exam, which was also specially prepared by Special Cargo, tailored to work at RU. “This exam is equivalent to the CBR’s VBGS exam. And also with us, as a participant, you must have a minimum of eighty percent correct to obtain the certificate. This certificate, titled ‘Expert Competence Statement under 3.14 PGS 15,’ is valid for five years just like the CBR certificate.” And did everyone actually obtain the certificate? “Yes indeed,” says Ruud. “One colleague had to retake the exam – which was quite tough anyway – but in the end everyone passed.”
Beautiful experience
He continued: “All in all, the training went very well. Management is also happy we did this to be and stay compliant.” A fellow participant raises his thumb. “We now know exactly what to look out for. What we should and especially what we shouldn’t do.” The training was also a great experience for Jannie: “A customized training like this is always special, because every storage situation is different. At RU, it was especially the very mixed company that made it fun and diverse.”
PGS 15 New Style
Late last year, the PGS organization published the draft of the revised New Style PGS 15 guideline. In this revised guideline, the proficiency requirement of Regulation 3.14 (see below) has been moved to measure “M83. Thus, this requirement certainly remains in effect, even for non-logistical stores such as laboratories, universities and hospitals. The final version of the new guideline is expected to be released in the fall of this year. When it will actually take effect is not yet clear. Currently, the interim version 1.0 of PGS 15, from 2021, is in effect – since the Environment Act took effect on Jan. 1 of this year.
Safe feeling
“With customized training like this, we ensure that companies (in this case RU) can meet the PGS 15 requirement of expert training, but in a piece of customized training. In this way, the “Expert Competency Statement” is a welcome addition to Special Cargo’s training offerings for many companies. Especially for companies for which VBGS is not specific enough and there is a need for a piece of individuality in ‘expert’ training,” Jannie concludes. Ruud agrees: “My colleagues and I work confidently in our PGS 15 bunker again. That’s a safe feeling.”
Ruud Patings: “As a university, we have an exemplary role. All processes in our bunker must be safe and compliant.”
Says Jannie van Peski, “With custom training, we can tailor the training one hundred percent to the situation and needs of that particular client.”
