Record-breaking attendance at EPC-UK CPD seminars
Company committed to continuing professional development of personnel within the industry
EPC-UK, a leading force in the field of commercial explosives and blasting services, have achieved ‘record-breaking attendances’ during this year’s series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) best practice seminars.
Noted for their knowledge and expertise across five activities – explosives, blasting services, fuel additives, defence and logistics, EPC-UK have built a reputation for investing in the skill-sets and development of industry professionals.
With the assistance of the Institute of Quarrying (IQ), the company has sought to improve its internal capabilities and, critically, involve the wider extraction industry.
EPC-UK have committed to developing employees through the CPD programme – a process that recognizes professionalism through lifelong learning and ensures employee experiences and skills remain relevant and up to date.
By delivering a programme of free, informative seminars to delegates across the industry, the organization is helping to increase the number of CPD hours attendees can generate and impart practical applications that delegates can apply to their particular job roles.
As the Institute of Quarrying works to promote the professionalism of people working within the industry, through a combination of work experience and qualifications, EPC-UK’s decision to make its seminars accessible to all relevant industry personnel has been warmly appreciated.
This year EPC-UK say they have attained a record number of delegates to their biennial CDP seminars, which have been held in Scotland, Cumbria, Nottingham, Newport and Cornwall.
The seminars have included several topical issues, to ensure current industry best practice, and have featured themes including: ‘The Evolution of Drilling’, ‘Imaging Technology’ and ‘Seismograph Reporting’, as well as a presentation entitled ‘Managing the Blast’, delivered by the HSE.
Ian Davies, general manager at EPC-UK and part of the team working to promote CPD training and encourage attendance, believes that by securing the additional hours of CPD required to maintain different levels of IQ membership, more employees can be accredited as Technical Members, Members and Fellows.
‘Through our series of seminars, providing six hours of CDP accreditation, up-to-date and relevant information has been successfully delivered and we’ve effectively demonstrated our commitment to the extraction industry, enabling personnel to attain the hours of development needed for their own career progression,’ he explained.
‘It has been reassuring to get such positive feedback from the delegates. The comments have been documented, together with the recommendations for topics to be included in the future, allowing us to set a similar standard of seminars for delivery in 2019.
‘Plans are in place to include an even wider range of subjects, greater speaker diversity, and increased social media engagement and audience participation, together with physical delivery across further venues.’
