The National Water Hygiene ‘blue card’ training initiative was originally introduced ten years ago via a collaboration between the UK water industry, Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills), and public health bodies to ensure the safety of drinking water.
The blue card training and accreditation scheme is now mandated by many water companies across the UK, and continues to evolve in order to suit the changing water sector. The training plays an increasingly utilitarian role in ensuring that individuals that work in the public water supply or have contact with it via work think carefully about hygiene and managing risk, as well as understand best practice.
According to EU Skills chief executive Nick Ellins:
“The National Water Hygiene training and accreditation scheme is a great example of how sector collaboration can deliver tangible health and safety benefits and help ensure that the many billions of litres of tap water supplied to around 65 million people each and every day, stay at their high levels of quality.
Over ten years, the little blue card has become a recognised symbol of water hygiene competence. Tens of thousands of people have been through the training and accreditation over the last ten years, and I strongly recommend that any individuals working in contact with mains drinking water – anywhere along its journey from source to tap – do the same to fully understand where the risks of poor hygiene may lie and how best to mitigate them.â€
EU Skills will be increasing its work across not only the entire UK water industry workforce, but will in future also include plumbers, contractors, building maintenance companies, environmental health practitioners, and local authorities in order to introduce excellence in operating practice, as well as to increase sector skills and understanding.
The highly successful blue card will continue to play an integral role in that endeavour, as holders will need to ensure that their cards are within the three-year validation period on the EUSR secure verification register; it is also vital that those who are accountable ensure that they get proof of competence from those working in contact with the public water supply and verify the validity of the blue card.
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