Industry Training Services (ITS), a leading provider of health and safety training solutions to the construction, civil engineering, utilities and manufacturing sectors in Northern Ireland has opened a base in Dublin in response to demand for health and safety training.

ITS was established in 2000 by civil engineer, Brendan Crealey who identified the need for a professional health and safety training company for the construction sector in Northern Ireland after working on large motorway and construction projects in the UK.  Since then, the company has grown across the north and into border regions with a purpose-built health and safety training campus on 12 acres near Portadown, Co. Armagh. The company’s training services are also highly mobile as they can provide bespoke professional training courses at client sites anywhere across the island of Ireland.

Speaking at the announcement, Brendan Crealey commented, “In the 23 years since we were first established, ITS has become the leading supplier of training courses for a wide range of industries across Northern Ireland. However, throughout those years of growth we have had a sizeable number of companies from the south that have become long-term clients of ITS.  We see establishing a permanent presence in Dublin as a key step in enabling us to better serve our customers in Dublin and the wider region.”

Mr. Crealey continued: “Our state-of-the-art training facility near Portadown, close to the M1 motorway is less than a 90-minute drive from north county Dublin and we have had a lot of clients from Dublin, north Leinster and indeed from a broad swathe of counties close to the border including Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Roscommon, Sligo and right across the county of Donegal”.

The company provides accredited training for many employees from the island of Ireland who work on infrastructure projects across the UK, acting as a ‘close to home’ one-stop-shop for companies who need to ensure they have the correct accreditation for employees before being assigned to projects across the water.  ITS’ range of customers goes beyond the construction sector to include companies from utilities, telecoms, manufacturing and engineering, local authorities, food manufacturing, agriculture, and horticulture.

ITS is the leading provider for many indispensable training courses including tailored programmes aimed at employees who are faced with operating in confined spaces.  The company has custom built confined space installations at its Portadown facility that replicate real-world situations faced by employees from varying sectors such as food manufacturing, agriculture, brewing, water and drainage works and flour milling. In addition, ITS has developed a tailor-made trailer to provide a mobile confined space training facility that can be taken to a client’s facility anywhere in Ireland.

Mr. Crealey added: “Thankfully, accidents with employees in confined spaces are very rare, but companies need to be aware of their duty of care for employees in these situations and our expertise in this area coupled with our specially designed trailer mean we are a leading provider for this specialised training to companies and local authorities anywhere on the island of Ireland”.

Tower crane rescue is another area where ITS has built up a level of expertise.  “Just look at the skyline of Dublin and you will see how many tower cranes there are in operation”, continued Crealey. “Tower crane operators are highly trained workers who carry out their duties in a unique environment.  Tower crane operator employers have a duty of care to these very specialised workers, in the event of a health or other type of emergency that the operator could suffer, only specially trained personnel can effectively bring the tower crane operator down in such a situation.  It is up to the construction company that owns the tower crane to ensure they always have an appropriately trained team of personnel on site who can intervene and carry out a rescue procedure should the worst happen.  ITS can offer expert advice on the equipment needed and carryout tower crane rescue training for companies that own or operate tower cranes anywhere in Ireland”.