Before you even set foot in a class room we want to ensure you are fully prepared for the course. So, first of all you will complete a foundation module on line. This will take about 2 hours of your time and involves a module of e-learning before taking an e-assessment. 

The pass mark for this element is 60%. This way we know that you are operating at the appropriate level to be able to complete this course, plus the e-learning serves as solid foundation for the remaining four elements in the course. The good news is that you can make as many attempts as you like to pass within 7 days of enrolling.

Once you have enrolled and passed the foundation element you will be required to attend a four day course comprising the following:

Element 1 This element underpins all of the principles covered in the qualification. Being an effective ‘Risk Manager’ does not start and finish with risk assessments. These principles apply to all aspects of leisure operations but will be demonstrated through a pool environment. By the end of the day candidates will understand how to carry out and implement risk assessments; develop, implement and review Normal Operating Procedures; develop, implement and review Emergency Action Plans.

Element 2 This element covers recruitment, induction, training and managing a team; including employment law, developing managing and implementing effective induction and probation schemes and maintaining standards. By the end of the day candidates will have written a recruitment policy, an induction standard and probation process together with a comprehensive tool for training and competency assessment.

Element 3 This element will capture all of the detail candidates will have covered in Element 1 and 2. Candidates will bring together all of the actions and operations developed and demonstrate how each meets specific laws. By the end of the day candidates will understand how they meet all of their legal obligations as a Manager, including Corporate Manslaughter.

Element 4 This will focus entirely on how to manage a serious incident. Candidates will examine all possibilities, likely scenarios and systems and procedures associated with a serious incident, both internally and externally from police and coroners to HSE inspectors. Assessment Directly following Element 4 candidates will complete an assessment.

Each element concludes with a management toolkit designed to be used back at your leisure facility. So this is not just an academic course but it’s also a functional programme of learning that can be quickly applied in the workplace. Each element has a unique and innovative management tool, each of which is worth the course fee on their own.

Once completed and passed you will have a recognised, comprehensive management qualification that not only assists you in your current role but will also look great on your CV! 

Obviously we think the course is great and bridges the gaps in knowledge highlighted in the survey so it’s fit for purpose. But don’t just take our word for it! Hundreds of leisure organisations have already committed to putting their Managers through this long awaited qualification. Just to add to the quality we have comprehensively consulted with, and enrolled the services and opinions of, industry experts in health and safety, leisure management and leading regulatory lawyers to assist in developing the content. If you worry about the level of training given to your team in managing your facilities safely, effectively and within the law can you afford not to enlist your team on a course today? For every £1 spent in averting the risk of claims and prosecution you save £7 in the equivalent cost to correct the issue or compensation owed.

For more information on this qualification or to enrol on a course near you please contact Martin Symcox, Business Development Manager – npmq@iql.org.uk

Jimmy Pimblett and Leon Lizzi, Operations Managers at SERCO.
“The last couple of days have been a real eye-opener and has given us so much information and knowledge that we can take back and start applying immediately. We feel this qualification could be invaluable to duty managers, facility managers and contract managers. The materials we have been given are second-to-none and we only wish the toolkit had been available years ago. “The only thing we’d ask is for the IQL to run refresher courses to make sure that in a year’s time we are still using the information effectively.”

John Rogers, Health & Safety Support Manager at Hertsmere Leisure.
“The structure of the course has been superb, keeping us all fully engaged throughout. I am currently undertaking an NVQ level 3 & 4 in Occupational Health & Fitness which draws some comparisons but the NPMQ is directly relevant to the leisure operator and supervisory staff. This training would effectively fill the knowledge gaps we are faced with in our organisation and the industry.”

Siobhan O Flaherty, Operations Manager at Aura.
“I certainly feel more competent since completing this course and it has helped cement the importance of the laws and how they directly relate to scenarios we are faced with. We don’t current have the Corporate Manslaughter Act in Ireland but when it comes in it’s good to know we’ll be ahead of the game.”

Niamh Brady, Duty Manager at Aura in Ireland.
“I’ve learned so much during the last few days all relevant to my role and it is certainly going to be useful to the operation managers at Aura too. The days have been fast paced and despite travelling from 4am on the Monday I was still wide awake when we finished at 6pm – that is testament to the tutors’ strong presentation and the use of case studies which kept everything relevant and interesting.”

Lee Carpenter, Pool Manager, Longleat at Centre Parcs.
“I can honestly say that this course is directly relevant to at least 12 people within Centre Parcs UK. The delivery has been ground-breaking and the course materials outstanding. The team at the IQL have done the impossible and made health and safety interesting!”

Sam Rahman, Operations Manager Wandsworth Contract DC Leisure.
“The course has been great. I have worked as an Operations Manager for three years and a health and safety manager for three years before that and I have never come across a similar course that directly relates to leisure. Without a doubt I feel a more competent manager having undertaken this training, it has really helped to clarify the changes in the law and how they directly relate to the work I do.”

Erin Dabbs, Duty Manager, Hemel Sports Centre:
“I feel a much more competent manager since taking part in the NPMQ, I feel the information I’ve been given has opened a whole new realm for me. It has given me so much extra information than I had to begin with.”

“In most courses I think you get quite bored towards the end but I have found it really challenging so it has kept me on my toes and keeps me interested so that I don’t miss anything. The order in which we are going through the elements is really good because you begin with getting the information that you will need to use for the rest of the week. You are able to piece it all together by the end of each day.”

“I will definitely be recommending it to other colleagues and I can already think of people that will benefit from the training and be able to help me implement it.”

Dan Preston, Operations Manager, Andover Leisure Centre, Valley Leisure Ltd:
“The course has enabled me to be able to go back and use the skills that I have learnt and convert them into the documentation that we have already got. I’m hoping to get the Duty Managers that we have to come on the training as well and develop as a team a lot better.”

“It was good to have a couple of days doing different aspects so that when we had law on the third day it clicked and we were able to fit it in to the things we had already learnt. Where as if you did law on the first day you wouldn’t appreciate it as much because you wouldn’t know where it slots in and where it is relevant.”

“I’ve already put money aside with the budgets for my colleagues to come on the course and Martin is going to let me know when the next available time to do it is.”

Chris Tye, Group Operations Manager, East Northamptonshire Cultural Trust
“I’ve found the course content quite challenging, of interest and very in-depth in giving the necessary knowledge we need.”

“The different elements have worked well in getting to the end of the course, to then being able to put it all into practice.”

I will be looking at rolling this course out to my colleagues so that they can benefit from it but also to enhance their knowledge.”

Sonia Robins, Operations and Pool Manager, Romsey Rapids in Romsey:
“I’m here mainly to check out the NPMQ and see if it is worth sending my supervisors and duty officers here to help me build a strong team and I definitely think it would be beneficial to do so.”

“I’ve been really impressed with the tool kit that we have been given, with the CD and the additional tool box items that we are able to take back to site, which will definitely help to move it forwards and help implement it. Once the Duty Officers and Managers are all on side with the new training regime it will be brilliant.”

Emma Kinghorn, Operations Manager at Montem Leisure Centre, Slough:
“We are obviously all aware that there is legislation and acts out there but this has just cemented the knowledge that we had prior to coming on the course. There are definitely lots of things that I will take back with me and speak to my teams about.”

“The first two days were great, they introduced us to it at a very steady pace, the law element was more intense but it has all been structured in a really good way and it is well thought out.”

The tool kit is going to save myself and the team hours and hours of work when I get back to work because it is already there for us. We already have a lot of good systems in place at our site but I am still going to look to implement these new systems when I get back.”

Dave Hitchcock, Assistant Facilities Manager, Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey
“We don’t currently have a swimming pool so all of this information is new to me, but it has given me a lot more confidence going in to the new facilities that we are going in to where there will be a pool.”

“It has gone at a pace which has been easy to pick up and follow.”

“The law element came in at a later stage, which was a lot better for me. I think I might have got lost if that had come in on Day One.”

“The tool kit and resources we have been given are perfect for us because we are starting from scratch, so we can use these things straight a way – it is ideal.”

Richard Bean, General Manager, Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey.
“I absolutely can be a more competent manager having gone through this training. I’ve taken a huge amount from this. I think that us not having a pool yet is actually an advantage as we have been given a lot of tools and templates to take away and use straight away. They give us a great starting point for good practice, as we have not inherited any previous procedures – so from our point of view it has been really good.”

“Really happy with the content, it has been much better than I expected it to be.”

“I think Tara and Martin have been fantastic in the delivery of the NPMQ, they have been really good at keeping everyone engaged – it has been really painless. Courses like this can be really dull if you have got someone without charisma but it has been really really good. I would be more than happy to recommend this course to other colleagues.”

 

 

: NPMQ Information Handout
: NPMQ Booking Form
: NPMQ Course Dates
: National Tutor NPMQ Person Specification
: National Tutor NPMQ Role Description
: Tutor Info

Tara Dillon – Executive Director, IQL UK Ltd

"We know that, in the main, operators take their responsibilities seriously when it comes to making arrangements for, or setting policy in, the health, safety and welfare of staff and customers. However, changes in new legislation look at the application of these procedures and a full understanding/ownership at all levels within the organisation.

We at IQL UK Ltd, probably wouldn’t have even considered writing the NPMQ if we didn’t receive hundreds of calls a week on operational issues, frequently relating to H&S or possible breaches of law, misunderstanding or misinterpretation of legal obligations. Furthermore, the survey results confirmed that there were differences between senior management and middle/lower management’s understanding and implementation of their own policies and procedures.

I have been delighted to lead a team in writing this qualification as we have been able to directly respond to the needs of the Industry. In the past 12 months I have spoken to colleagues within the Industry at all levels, from CEO's to General Managers to Duty Manager's and the overwhelming response to the NPMQ suggests that it is long overdue.

In a culture where new and aspiring Managers are constantly chasing targets, there is a need to get them back to getting the culture right first and the targets will then take care of themselves. I firmly believe that Manager's at all levels within the Industry that undertake the NPMQ course will have a comprehensive platform for delivering a compliant H&S culture within the sites that they work."

Jeanette Harwood – Senior Partner and Head of Regulatory Services, Walker Morris

I have worked with IQL UK Ltd throughout the development of the NPMQ and have been very impressed with the level of commitment and attention to detail the team have put in to creating a qualification that will assist the Leisure Industry in improving safety standards within UK pools. I have the highest regard for how they have incorporated health and safety law and corporate manslaughter legislation into the new qualification. I have no doubt that anyone who undertakes the NPMQ will be fully versed in the relevant laws and how they directly relate to their jobs and duties. Candidates will learn how to safeguard themselves and their organisations against prosecution and in turn help to reduce and prevent accidents and incidents in the workplace.

Course dates and details for Q1 2010