New rail safety awareness training course welcomed

The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has welcomed a new training course offering rail safety awareness training to the construction materials industry.

The programme includes both interactive theory and practical elements of loading and unloading rail wagons and working in sidings. It has been designed by rail freight operations specialist Victa Railfreight and courses are offered nationwide by Mentor Training Solutions.

“With increasing volumes of aggregates and other building materials being delivered to construction sites by rail, this is an excellent time to launch a training course on rail safety for those working in the construction industry,” said RFG Executive Director, Maggie Simpson. “We are delighted that the initiative, which came from RFG’s construction working group and is supported by the Mineral Products Association (MPA), has been taken up by some of our members and developed into an on-going series of training courses.”

Safety is a high priority

The RFG has been the UK’s leading rail freight trade association since its formation in 1990 and its aim is to grow the volume of goods moved by rail, delivering environment and economic benefits for the UK. More than 40% of the construction materials used in London is delivered by rail, with more than 20m tonnes transported annually throughout the UK.

“Safety has been a high priority in the rail and construction industries for many years but specialist training can be difficult for individual companies, spread over many sites, to organise themselves, so this provides an ideal opportunity,” Ms Simpson concluded.

For more details on training courses contact www.mentortrainingsolutions.co.uk.