People who have passed carpentry courses are being advised to understand the safety risks posed by the woodworking industry.

Research by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that over 300 people suffered major injuries in the woodworking industry last year and over 1100 were absent from work for more than three days following an accident.

A newly redesigned website for employees in the woodworking sector has been launched by the HSE in an attempt to reduce the number of accidents in the industry.

The HSE site has also been updated and re-organised so that users can easily access specific advice on particular health and safety issues.

Tim Small, from the HSE's Manufacturing Sector, said: "The new website has been designed in close consultation with the woodworking industry and we hope it will help to reduce the unacceptably high number of incidents that can seriously affect people's lives."

People who want to join the woodworking industry should complete carpentry courses at a specialist training provider which is accredited to training bodies such as the City and Guilds Institute.

City and Guilds Safe Use of Machinery Certificates of Competence detail the machines on which an operator has achieved the minimum level of competence before being allowed to work alone on a woodworking machine.

These certificates can then be used as evidence of advancement to other qualifications, such as National Vocational Awards (NVQ) Level 2 in Machine Woodworking.

NVQ Level 2 requires a broad range of varied work activities across a range of 'typical' and CNC wood working machinery, which includes more complex and possibly non-predictable tasks.

Level 3 requires that competence is demonstrated in a broad range of varied work activities performed in a wide variety of contexts. There should also be an increased level of responsibility and autonomy.

Level 2 is generally considered to be the skill level of competence that a machine operator should aim to achieve while Level 3 is the minimum competence required to perform supervisory tasks

People taking carpentry NVQ's need to be aware that they must be employed in the woodworking trade as the training consists of two parts. It is the duty of the employer to provide 'on the job' training as well as arrange for 'off the job' training.

The HSE is the UK's national regulator for workplace health and safety and aims to prevent death, injury and ill health.

It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training, new or revised regulations and codes of practice.