Manchester-based Airborne Environmental Consultants Ltd (AEC) has been recognised at the UK Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) Excellence Awards for its innovative Hazard House training tool.
The company, which is based at Trafford Park a leading independent health, safety, environmental and risk management consultant. AEC was presented with the Innovation Award, recognising the company’s impact on UKATA and the wider asbestos industry.
The award was presented by Olympic sporting legend Kriss Akabusi at the glittering award ceremony held to mark UKATA’s tenth anniversary. Established in 2008, UKATA is a leading authority for asbestos training provision in the United Kingdom.
Delighted to win the industry award Bob Harris, Technical Director of AEC said: “It is always special when somebody recognises your hard work, but when that recognition comes from your fellow asbestos training providers then it is extra special.”
AEC’s innovative Hazard House, a real house environment used during training courses, was recognised by UKATA for revolutionising the way in which delegates learn about asbestos and Legionella. The new training facility allows delegates to interact with mock asbestos installations and Legionella hazards in situ within a realistically sized and constructed building.
Bob added: “Delivering training that is informative, meets our clients training outcomes, as well as being enjoyable, is not easy. It takes a great deal of effort to keep it relevant to our delegates and that constant evolution in training delivery does rely heavily on innovation on the part of training providers like AEC.
“Hazard House is revolutionary in our industry and is part of our continuing efforts to make our training delivery more and more effective.”
The awards were open to all UKATA member companies. In addition to Innovation, the awards recognised the best in Corporate Social Responsibility, advertising, customer service, workforce development and training.
Craig Evans, UKATA Chief Operating Officer, added: “We work in a very dangerous industry, so it is great to see one of our members developing new ways to deliver training to the wider industry. There was a very high standard of entries in the Innovation category and it was a great pleasure to present AEC with the award recognising the impact its Hazard House has made on training within the industry.”
