A huge well done to Northern Gas Networks’ (NGN) first ever Safety, Health and Environment Technician apprentice Luke Robinson, who’s thriving in his new role at NGN’s office in Sunderland.
Luke, who’s originally from Hartlepool, completed his apprenticeship and is now thriving after securing a role with the Environment, Health & Safety team.
As well as educating around workplace health and safety, Environment, Health and Safety apprenticeships learn about protecting the environment plus ecology and sustainability – adding extra skill sets to the team and contributing to NGN’s vision of fairer, greener future for the North of England.
Luke, who joined NGN as a full-time Environment, Health and Safety Administrator in October, said: “I left college after completing my A levels in Psychology, Sociology and Sports Science, and at that time, like a lot of 18-year-olds I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I felt I was being guided down the university route and I really didn’t want to go. The thought of being in all that debt really put me off.
“So, I looked around for jobs and came across NGN’s apprenticeships, and in particular the Level 3 Safety, Health and Environment Technician 2-year apprenticeship. I started in October 2023, and I’ve not looked back.”
The first year of the course covered HSE legislation, GDPR regulations and ACOP (Approved Code of Practice) and hazard spotting. The second year concentrated on putting learning into practice – completing risk assessments, site visits and audits plus studying cost-benefit analysis (CBA).
Luke said: “The skills I learned during my apprenticeship are proving very transferrable to my current role, and I’m already overseeing projects with quite large budgets. I’m halfway through one project now with a budget of around £68k so my apprenticeship studies around CBA have proved vital.
“This project is looking at setting up a centralised response van on the rare occasions we have a loss of supply incident, third party damage or other events on the network – this is a really interesting one to be involved in.
“I’ve also been working on a project improving our emergency evacuation procedures for people with disabilities, and have also been involved in audits, risk assessments, depot inspections – the list goes on!
“The apprenticeship has improved my communication and interpersonal skills. I speak to all sorts of people and departments across NGN, and I work at getting buy-in from them into the projects I’m working on. It’s definitely helped my organisational skills too.
“To anyone considering an apprenticeship, I’d say – go for it! NGN have got great people – industry experts you can learn from. The team around me have been fantastic and are always there to bounce ideas off or to turn to for help.
“It’s still very early in my career, but in time I’d like to move into a health safety specialist role or technical coordinator role, then perhaps one day become a Head of Health and Safety.”
Chris Broad, Environment, Health and Safety Operations Manager at NGN, said: “Luke has worked tirelessly throughout his apprenticeship to get to where he is today. He has a can do attitude and is always willing to help.
“He’s been mentored closely throughout his apprenticeship by the EHS team, and in particular our Health and Safety Technical Coordinator Penny Wood, learning a multitude of skills from EHS professionals. I am sure he will go from strength to strength.”
Chris Adair, Apprenticeships & Training Manager at NGN, said: “Congratulations to Luke for securing a role with us following the successful completion of his apprenticeship – our first ever Safety, Health and Environment Technician Apprentice.
“Luke’s experience shows the depth and range of roles on our apprenticeship programme, and even though he’s still in his early days with us full-time, he’s already making a great impression and putting the skills he’s learned to good use.”
To find out more about our apprenticeships, which will be open for applications again next year, email ngncareers@northerngas.co.uk
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