e-Learning
LearningNest
Tired of classroom training, or unable to take time out? Our Compliance, Health & Safety, Wellbeing and Performance Training e-Learning courses for managers and employees are a convenient and powerful alternative, incorporating videos and interactive testing for more flexible learning and development.
Engaging, cost-effective and designed to have a direct impact on your organisation, LearningNest (delivered by DeltaNet) allows staff to complete courses anytime, anywhere – all they need is internet access.
Get your FREE consultation
Submit your details and one of our team will be in touch.
COVID-19 | FREE expert guidance for employers, including sample policies, template risk assessments and more
How we help
Transform your approach to training
The business impact of poor health and safety management can be significant: reduced productivity, higher staff turnover, damage to your reputation, and even fines and prosecution. Of course, the primary concern is the welfare of your workforce.
Providing health and safety training to your managers and employees is not only a legal requirement but will develop confidence and awareness of critical risk management topics, reducing the potential for costly safety incidents.
- 250 courses covering Compliance, Health & Safety, Wellbeing and Performance topics
- Boost employees’ skills, knowledge and confidence with refresher courses
- Keep training costs down with unlimited access to a full range of relevant material
- Monitor training progress at a glance, including individual scores and who needs to re-sit
- Demonstrate commitment to employee development with training certificates
Related resources
Explore our course types
We offer a holistic catalogue of courses and different ways of delivering them
Adaptive courses
Why waste time covering old ground? With our adaptive courses, learners are given a pre-assessment to gauge their current understanding and knowledge gaps. Based on this, courses are then automatically tailored to their individual learning needs for maximum impact.
Detailed study courses
If you prefer a more ‘traditional’ e-Learning approach, our detailed study courses present learners with information, then test their comprehension afterwards. As the name suggests, these are longer, more in-depth courses, but contain interactive and engaging elements to hold learners’ attention.
Immersive courses
Training doesn’t have to be dull and boring. Our immersive, scenario-based courses place the learner at the centre of the experience and test their ability to make the right decisions. Highly interactive, they are designed to improve learner engagement.
Microlearning courses
Some forms of training can result in information overload. These bitesize courses present key topics in digestible 5 to 10-minute segments, boosting knowledge retention. They can also be rolled out easily in response to emerging training needs.
Toolbox talks
Our courses are also available as toolbox talks – a collection of resources designed to support small-group training. Our toolbox talks contain a number of multimedia training materials for managers – from animations and diagrams to detailed facilitation notes – to illustrate the points being made and encourage discussions.
Communications resources
To reinforce the key learning messages and behaviours conveyed in our courses, and promote a culture of compliance, we also provide a suite of supporting resources that you can print out and display in the workplace, or share digitally via your intranet, newsletter or display screen.
Cost-effective, time-efficient employee development
At Ellis Whittam, we understand that taking time out for employee training isn’t always possible. Nevertheless, as an employer, you want to know that your staff are fully equipped to undertake their duties safely and compliantly – and that your business is protected – without affecting productivity or spending a fortune.
e-Learning is the perfect solution. Not only is it more cost-effective than classroom training, but it keeps downtime to a minimum, puts employees in charge of their own development, and allows training to be completed at a pace that suits each individual and with minimal disruption to their daily work role.
Popular FAQs
Common questions about our e-Learning courses.
Are the courses accredited?
Our courses are CPD certified and approved by RoSPA.
Do learners receive certificates?
Yes. Certificates are automatically generated via LearningNest when a user successfully completes a course.
How often do you upgrade content?
Our courses are regularly updated and maintained; any legislative changes affecting our content are made straightaway and topic areas are refreshed every 18-24 months.
Are courses mobile-friendly?
Our courses are responsively designed and fully accessible on mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop devises. Our MyAstute app also allows content to be downloaded and accessed via a mobile device, allowing for offline access to content, with results automatically synced with the platform when next in internet connectivity.
Are the courses specific to industry sectors?
Our courses have been created as general awareness modules suitable for any industry, so don’t specifically align to one sector.
What is the average run time of a course?
The average length of a course varies depending on the style of course, with formats available to suit all requirements. Our Detailed Study courses, which are typically longer and more detailed, take between 30 minutes to one hour to complete. Immersive courses are typically between 10 and 30 minutes in duration, and courses in our Take 5 series are typically five minutes in duration. We then have some Adaptive and Diagnostic Assessments that provide personalised training paths, meaning each user will have a personal run time depending on their current knowledge level; this ranges from 10 minutes to one hour and 15 minutes.
Do your courses have an assessment?
Our Detailed Study, Immersive and Adaptive courses have assessments built in to assess and record users’ comprehension of the learning; these are pre-set to a pass rate of 80%. Our Take 5 courses have an assessment built in to aid the learning process, but these assessments don’t contain a pass mark.
Can you report on completion?
Yes. LearningNest comes with a full analytics area that has a wide variety of reporting capabilities, which includes a visual dashboard, standard reports, and a report builder, to ensure the data required is accessible. Using the xAPI format to capture completion data allows granular data to be stored, such as question-by-question responses from users, allowing greater insights to be made.
Explore Health & Safety Managed Services
We do more than just e-Learning...
Accident and incident investigation
An accident in the workplace is every employer’s worst nightmare. We can help to guide your investigation, advise on corrective action and protect your interests in the event of regulatory enforcement.
Can you help us prepare an accident investigation report?
Yes. This can be tricky to get right, especially as once you reach conclusions and set out the actions you have taken, the document is disclosable to the other side in the event of a personal injury claim or prosecution. We’ll help you stick to the facts, keep opinion separate, and make sure the report is presented in a way that protects your best interests and, most importantly, identifies the things that need to be put right to prevent reoccurrence.
We have been written to by the regulator regarding a health and safety incident. Can you help?
Yes. In the event of a serious accident or emergency, we will support your investigation and advise you on your communications with the enforcing authority. We will be there to help mitigate damage, guide you and support you. If you have received a letter from the regulator, we can help you to formulate a response until legal advice is required, in which case (if you have chosen to take it) our Legal Expenses Insurance is activated.
Advice line
Whether you’re facing an immediate crisis or just in need of an expert second opinion, get sensible, proportionate and practical advice at any time with our unlimited advice line support.
Who will I be advised by?
At Ellis Whittam, we’re big believers in a personal approach. That’s why we assign each of our clients a named consultant, with who will become your main point of contact for advice, guidance and support on all health and safety matters. If you take up our full Health & Safety service, your consultant will also be the one to conduct your health and safety audit and produce your policy and handbook. This means you’ll receive consistent advice from a dedicated expert who truly understands your organisation’s safety system, arrangements and goals.
What if my consultant isn’t available?
If, for whatever reason, your dedicated consultant isn’t available when you call, our office-based Helpdesk Team will be able to resolve most issues for you or direct you to the relevant guidance or template you need via our Knowledge Hub. If you have a particularly urgent or technical query, our Helpdesk Team can triage this to another expert within our team. Rest assured you’ll never be left without support.
Audit and inspection
From a policy that isn’t being executed properly to a procedure or risk assessment that’s out of date, we can conduct a thorough examination of your premises, practices and procedures to identify and remedy any areas where you’re exposed.
What form does the audit take?
There are a number of different models and templates for conducting health and safety audits. Most commonly, and the approach we adopt at Ellis Whittam, is what’s known as a General Risk Assessment (GRA). This is a systematic examination of your workplace to identify possible causes of harm, the likelihood and severity of that harm occurring given the safeguards already in place, and any further control measures needed to reduce risk to as low a level as is “reasonably practicable”.
Will you just provide a report of the issues identified?
No, we report on both compliant and non-compliant areas, and the report will provide clear solutions and recommendations to address particular areas of concern. Unlike some providers, we won’t insert default ‘corrective action required’ responses unless it is absolutely clear what you need to do; we edit to provide clarity. Plus, if you have any questions or concerns, your dedicated Health & Safety Consultant will be more than happy to assist.
Become your competent persons
We’re so confident in our ability to manage your compliance that we’ll even act as one of your legally-required competent persons, which all organisations must have access to by law in order to meet the requirements of health and safety legislation.
What is a competent person?
Put simply, a competent person helps an organisation to comply with health and safety law and take all reasonable steps to keep people from harm. This will be one or more persons who have the ability to recognise the health and safety risks associated with your organisation and identify sensible and proportionate solutions. The meaning of competent person can be found in Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. This states that “every employer shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), appoint one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions and by Part II of the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997.”
Why would I appoint somebody external to my business?
Will the individual you appoint as your in-house competent person be able to dedicate enough time to this responsibility? They might know your organisation inside and out, but do they have the necessary skills, knowledge and training to keep you compliant? Do they have a working understanding of health and safety legislation and how it applies to your organisation? Appointing an impartial person, external to your organisation, gives you access to technical expertise and the benefit of hands-on experience, and brings structure to the way you manage health and safety. We’ll help you to set up an effective safety management system, show you what good looks like, and give you clarity over what you need to be doing.
H&S software
Our innovative health and safety software, SafetyNest, will revolutionise your approach to risk management by creating smart “to-do” lists, cutting out the admin and allowing you to monitor your compliance at a glance.
How can SafetyNest help me?
Our SafetyNest software can transform how you manage health and safety. By turning heavily-administrative, time-consuming tasks into automated processes, it will increase standards and efficiencies across your organisation and free up valuable time. By being able to monitor your compliance at a glance, you’re not left in the dark about how you’re performing and can quickly and proactively identify what action is needed, reducing the potential for an incident and giving you peace of mind. It can also be instrumental in demonstrating compliance to the regulator, increasing your chances of a stress-free inspection.
What exactly is a ‘risk status indicator’?
One of the main benefits of SafetyNest is that you can see, at a glance, exactly how you’re performing and what needs to be done to maintain compliance. When you log in, you will immediately see your Current health status, which gives you visibility of all sites and their current RAG status for ‘Audit’, ‘Registry’, ‘Monitoring’ and ‘Risk assessments’, as well as Location monthly health status, which allows you to select a site and see the progression of the RAG status in any given time frame.
Legal Expenses Insurance
An optional element of our fixed-fee Health & Safety support, our FCA-regulated Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) can cover against the commercial ramifications of a serious safety incident.
What happens if there’s an accident in our workplace? Is it likely we will be fined?
Most reportable accidents in the workplace are not followed up by the regulator, but if they do take an interest, you are more likely to be subject to some sort of enforcement action being taken. This may be an enforcement notice or Fee for Intervention (FFI) breach. Alternatively, it may be the start of criminal proceedings that end up in court, the cost of which can be significant.
Does LEI include legal representation?
Yes. If you choose to defend the claim, our LEI includes legal support right the way through a case, including barrister’s costs. Here, there will be a prospect of success assessment; the likelihood of an acquittal will need to be more than 50% in order to be covered by the LEI. However, if you’ve followed advice from your dedicated Ellis Whittam Health & Safety Consultant, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be covered in this situation. In reality, if we have identified an issue and you’ve taken the corrective action we recommended, you shouldn’t find yourself in this situation in the first place.
Policy and handbook
Whether you’ve got nothing in place or are in need of an expert review, our Health & Safety specialists can provide you with a policy and handbook tailored to your organisation, processes, activities and environment.
Who will the Health & Safety Policy be written by?
Your Ellis Whittam Health & Safety Policy will be written by an experienced Health & Safety Consultant with recognised qualifications and technical expertise. If you take up our core Health & Safety service, this person will become your dedicated consultant for all health and safety matters – meaning the advice you receive will be consistent and based on a genuine understanding of your business. Plus, for any questions or areas of your policy that require specific technical expertise, as well as support from your named consultant, you’ll be able to rely on a nationwide team of experts with vast and diverse specialisms and experience.
What sections will it include?
Your Health & Safety Policy will be based on the principle of plan, do, check, act. It will include a statement of commitment describing how the business is organised to fulfill its legal responsibilities (refined to reflect post holder titles), followed by an arrangements section covering all risk areas that are relevant to the business and how they will be managed (contractors, fire, first aid, machinery maintenance, lone working, etc.). For each, it will follow a format of “we recognise”, “we will” and “the approach we will take is…”. It will also cover the importance of risk assessment, monitoring and review.
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a fundamental element of health and safety management. Get an expert steer on formulating assessments for specific risk areas such as DSE, manual handling, COSHH and fire safety.
Is a risk assessment a legal requirement?
Yes. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all employers, regardless of size or sector, must undertake a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of the health and safety of risks their employees are exposed to while at work, as well as the risks to any non-employees (customers, visitors, contractors, etc.) who may be affected by their activities. If you employ five or more employees, it is a legal requirement to keep a written record of your assessment and significant findings. If you’re not sure where to begin with risk assessment, we can help you.
We have an in-house health and safety team, but they haven’t had formal risk assessment training.
Risk assessment is the foundation of an effective safety management system, yet many individuals with this responsibility have not been taught the basic principles of how to conduct a risk assessment and what the law expects. This can result in an inaccurate estimation of risk, which may lead to certain control measures being recommended that are not necessary or, worse, control measures not being identified or implemented. If you are keen to make sure this essential task is being done properly, our expert Health & Safety Team can devise a risk assessors training package to develop internal competence.
99.2% Client happiness rating
97% Client retention rating
Why choose us?
Experts in Health & Safety
We have the expertise to help you simplify complex health and safety legislation, find workable solutions to health and safety challenges, and protect your organisation from the rising cost of non-compliance.
- Approved by a Primary Authority
- Dedicated specialists with recognised qualifications
- Genuine hands-on experience of managing risk
- Cost certainty with our unlimited, fixed-fee model
- The confidence to act as one of your competent persons
Who you’ll be working with
Angela Carter
Director of Legal Services
Toyah Marshall
Head of Team
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
