New GROW health & safety courses

The Garden Centre Association’s (GCA) Garden Retail Online Workshops (GROW) e-Learning platform has launched new online compliance-based courses

Online learning

Covering a wide range of vital topics, GROW courses are designed to help employees gain confidence and knowledge about products and services, so they can effectively assist any customers and colleagues who need help. The courses are designed specifically for the garden centre environment by field experts and are available to GCA and Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) members.

The GCA, Instructional Designer, Antony Snow explains: “We are delighted to be working once again with Opus Safety to offer these courses. The five new courses on GROW are Fire Safety Awareness, Fire Marshal, DSE and Home Working, Accident Awareness, and Slips, Trips and Falls. The first five courses from Opus Safety that were launched on GROW last summer covered food safety, including food hygiene essentials and allergen awareness, and health and safety including legionella awareness, COSHH awareness and working at height”

Snow added: “The health and safety of employees and customers is extremely important to our members and these courses, which have been tailored specifically for the garden centre industry, will continue to provide comprehensive safety training that will create a safe working environment.”

GCA Chief Executive, Peter Burks adds: “GROW is a cost-effective way of providing staff training and personal development that enhances customer experience. It’s accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, making it convenient for people to log-in when it suits them.

GROW is a self-funding and non-profit facility with any surpluses being reinvested into ongoing development. There are currently 87 courses and over 12,000 users throughout the UK. Topics covered include; horticulture, customer service, food safety, regulated sales and health and safety.