A Day in the Life: Chris Power, Senior Health and Safety Trainer at SOCOTEC

We sat down with Chris to understand his role further, as well as how the health and safety world has changed during his time within the sector.

Chris on the…Training Portfolio

“At SOCOTEC, I deliver training across a wide range of accreditations and subject areas. I’ve been training for 25 years now, so I have my own style, if you like, which seems to work with most training courses.

“I deliver the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) suite of qualifications, which includes the IOSH Working Safely course, which is delivered in one day and aimed at general operatives. I also deliver the four-day IOSH Managing Safety course, targeted at operational managers, as well as the one-day IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors programme.

“I do a lot of construction courses, too, delivering a half-day focused on Fire Safety, Fire Marshall training, Manual Handling training and Abrasive Wheels training, with sessions taking place across the country, often at clients' venues.”

Chris on the…Executive Training Experience

“The course I enjoy the most is the executive-level training, because there's a lot of discussion – directors always have opinions.

"With this training, I throw a few curveballs in there, just to say, 'this is where your business is at risk, this is what can happen to you if this goes wrong.' I use case studies to bring the session to life in the morning, and then in the afternoon we turn it around into 'right, what do we need to be doing to make sure that we're as compliant as we can be', and then we continue building on top of that good practice.

“We can often run over time on the course, because we get lots of questions. We can deliver it as a company-specific course, or as an open course.”

Chris on the…Training Philosophy

“I think the best feedback I ever get is when people walk out and they say 'that was really interesting.' And I think if you can make health and safety interesting, then you’ve done well.

“I'm more facilitating, even though there's an end-of-course assessment that I need to cover. It's more facilitating the discussions of directors and keeping them on track, rather than just going through a syllabus robotically, getting to the end and having no engagement with the audience.

“I often ask a lot of questions: rather than just talk to people, I will stop at a certain point and say, As an example I might say 'OK, so can you tell me what the fire triangle is?' or what is the best control measure in the hierarchy of control? and I'll go around our group – it might not be for everyone, but it’s a good way of making sure that people are listening.

“One-way communication for training is not the way you should train: ultimately, you should always check that people have understood it.”

Chris on…Honesty in Training

“I don't claim to know everything about health and safety, and anyone that does is lying because they can't. It's such a massive subject. What I always say is, ‘if you ask me anything I can't give you an honest answer to, I will go away and I'll come back with that answer’. I would rather spend an hour finding the right answer, rather than giving you a quick answer that's wrong.

“I think you get that respect from the audiences when you're not standing up there pretending you're the biggest thing in health and safety.”

Chris on…Traditional Training vs. Virtual

“I'm a traditional trainer. I like face-to-face classroom training where we can engage with people. And also you can see people who might need extra time or attention as well. If you've got a room and somebody is struggling, you can make a beeline for that person at the break and go have a chat with them.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we did some training on Microsoft Teams and Zoom, but there was certain training that we refused to do. When we thought there was a course that we couldn't do well enough, we would rather not do it, than do it poorly.

“I found virtual training hard. It was just like talking to the screen. People would turn their screens off, perhaps not engage with you.”

Chris on…Training Setup and Environment

“I always insist on a flip chart. You remember flip charts?! People think I'm a bit old-fashioned, but they really help you with your training. I'll write on the flip charts, and then we'll use the flip chart for revision.

“I don't like death by PowerPoint. Anyone can stand up there and just read off slides. Using flip charts or whiteboards gives you another medium; it's another way of communicating with people.

“I always set the room up in a U-shape style. Everyone can look at each other, and you can get far more discussions going. Whereas if you sit there looking at the back of people's heads, it reminds you of school.

“Room setup is important to the dynamics and the way the course runs. Some clients will set up a room and won't even think about refreshments. Making sure the room's got some natural light going into it is important.”

If you are interested in joining Chris or his fellow trainers and an upcoming training course, take a look at our training page to find out our availability: 

Client Testimonial:

Samantha S, attendee of IOSH Safety for Executives and Directors course:

“The session was a powerful reminder that health and safety is not just a legal obligation, it’s a leadership responsibility. As senior leaders, our actions set the tone for the entire organisation, and embedding a strong safety culture starts with us.

“Thank you to SOCOTEC and Chris Power, for delivering a focused, insightful, and practical course that highlighted the strategic importance of safety leadership.

“I’m walking away with a clearer understanding of the moral, legal, and financial responsibilities we carry and how we can drive real change from the top.”