Excellence. Competency assurance. Focused training. Expertise.
Excellence. Competency assurance. Focused training. Expertise.
These are some of the buzz words that are used liberally throughout today's oil and gas sector. They have become synonymous with best practice and describe what a company strives to have at its foundations. They underline the fact that standards of excellence and consistency are vital to the continuation of this multi-billion pound industry; a core aspect of which is an organisation's ability to demonstrate that it operates safely. But why do they need to do this and how can it be achieved?
Some of us may recall that the word ‘competence' first entered the oil and gas language following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. Over the years we have developed some understanding of the meaning of competence but confusion still exists. For example, it is a common misconception that competence has just one meaning. However, we should consider other definitions of competence; aspects such as predictive competence - where we can determine an individual's likelihood to be a high achiever; core competencies which demonstrate application of an organisation's values, and proven competence, the conventional approach that has been focused on in the industry sector as being the ability to carry out an activity to expected standards. Enhancement within an existing competence system could be that of measuring adaptive competence. This is where an individual can respond effectively to new or changing situations and circumstances.
Having an effective competence assurance process is pivotal or fundamental to an organisations ability to demonstrate that it is operating safely. Safety and competence are two sides of the same coin. In this regard, it surely goes without saying that an organisation cannot believe that it is operating safely when at the same time it cannot demonstrate that its employees and contractors are competent to carry out their job role.
An HSE quotation published recently regarding competence assurance states ‘..... This can be defined as the ability to undertake responsibilities and perform activities to a recognised standard on a regular basis. It is a combination of skills, experience and knowledge ....... ‘
There is the belief by a lot of people, however, that training equals competence. We should ask ourselves if this is really the case. As an example, do you believe that someone who has been given driving lessons and passed a driving test, is truly a competent driver? You are probably saying to yourself ‘of course not' they would need to gain experience of driving on different types of roads; in different traffic environments; varying weather conditions, such as rain, snow and ice, and in different types of vehicles. In other words, before you would consider the individual competent, they would need to have gained the necessary experience and be able to apply it consistently.
There is however, really no need for a system that assures workforce competence to be complicated - in fact, the opposite is true. If a competence assurance system is easy to operate and is part of the normal routine, it will undoubtedly work for everyone concerned. Competence is about demonstrating that an individual can do the task to the standards expected and as such, competence should be assessed as part of the normal working environment, not as a separate activity. This is true of competence assurance at any level - from a junior technician to the managing director.
Our experience
MBA members of staff work in many international locations, both offshore and onshore. This ‘real' work experience enables our specialist team to be more responsive to the practical requirements of a competence assurance system and a particular organisation's needs. A realistic, flexible approach, together with a commitment to deliver practical and workable solutions, has resulted in MBA being recognised as a world leader in the provision of competence based solutions to the oil and gas industry.
MBA has expertise in managing competence assurance systems on behalf of a number of global organisations within the oil and gas sector. An integral part of this role is the operation and administration of various customised electronic competence database systems. Our staff are unique in that they have specialist experience in the functionality of a number of different electronic competence database systems and associated e-Portfolios. This enables MBA to provide clients with objective and informed advice in relation to the ongoing development of a bespoke electronic support process for their competence assurance system. Furthermore, MBA has recently developed a quality and fit for purpose electronic system ENCOMPASS Competence Management SystemTM incorporating the current developments within the field of competence assurance.
Over the past 11 years MBA staff have trained and assessed in excess of 4,000 individuals within the oil and gas industry, to operate as Assessors or Internal Quality Assurers (Verifiers) in many locations, including UK, Middle East, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, various African countries, USA, and Far East. In doing so, MBA has used a number of different assessment methodologies and systems and gained considerable expertise in adapting and responding to the needs of different systems, while continuing to maintain the required industry standard of assessment quality assurance.
As part of MBA's own competence assurance system, staff and consultants are supported to continuously improve their individual professional development. This ensures that MBA provides advice and support based on oil and gas industry current thinking; current understanding of industry best practice; future developments within oil and gas industry relevant standards setting Bodies national occupational standards and 21st century methods and techniques for assessment and quality assurance of competence standards.
What a competence assurance system should be
Using our breadth and depth of experience in working with competence assurance systems in all of the major oil and gas industry regions throughout the world, we recommend that despite the fast moving and technological world in which we live, companies consider the following basic principles when developing a competence assurance system:
1. Keep it simple and easy to operate
2. Keep it current
3. Competence measures required for each job role should reflect what is actually required of that role
4. Should be developed to have global application
And finally we must ensure that competence assurance is seen as an ongoing process and an integral part of a company's operating culture, just like health and safety - in other words, ‘sustainable'.
Date Posted: 19/12/2011
