Scottish Water first under new framework
Posted: Thursday 28th June 2007
Scottish Water has become the first water company in the UK to complete the initial stage of auditing and endorsing in-house training under the new nation-wide water treatment Operator Competency Framework.
Under the Framework, all the water companies that are responsible for abstracting and treating drinking water must ensure any operative they employ meets the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for competence. It is a revolutionary approach to skills training, as it allows companies to keep their in-house training schemes and simply map them against the NOS. The entire water industry has agreed to adhere to this Framework. The Framework was drawn up last September by the water companies, industry body Water UK, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Sector Skills Council Energy & Utility Skills.
Scottish Water last month completed the process of mapping its existing training schemes for approval and evaluation of existing staff against NOS. This means Scottish Water’s own training schemes are now confirmed to meet the national standard. As the NOS for water treatment operatives are the basis on which the S/NVQ Level 2 qualification is based, this provides Scottish Water’s staff with a credible alternative to the S/NVQ.
The flexibility of the Operator Competency Framework means that Scottish Water can use off-site ‘academic’ training to underpin what has been learned in the workplace and provide qualifications authorities with the evidence needed to prove Level 2 competency.
During the initial stage, Scottish Water identified three key areas in the Framework:
- essential training for operators that must be legally completed for all treatment operators;
- process operations competence, meaning NOS that define the competencies that apply to job roles or occupations in the form of statements of performance, knowledge, and evidence;
- Site/company specific training that demonstrates equipment usage and site knowledge.
Under these points, an operator could, for example have training in essential health and safety, but be missing the extra skills need under NOS, and the site specific knowledge. Any operator missing the last two points would not be regarded as competent under the Framework.
Scottish Water next established a two stage approach to implementation, stage one used a ‘confidence rating’ approach to complete a ‘training gap analysis’ of existing staff and determine the level of skills gap for each water treatment operator. This rating gave staff a red, amber or green rating depending on their confidence to undertake specific skills. The confidence rating was a developmental stage before training up to full competence. Scottish Water felt it helped existing staff overcome fear of being rated and found inadequate, and helped manage change in the workplace. Once training gaps were established, staff could be given the appropriate training. For example, an operator might need extra training in breathing apparatus in a water treatment works, or in the process of manually backwashing the rapid gravity filters in a treatment plant. The extra training would mark the next phase of the Framework. The company has now moved into the second stage of the process, this second stage concentrates on measuring the actual competence among staff, according to the official definition of competence under the Framework.
Scottish Water began the mapping process early this year and finished in May. Mapping its training to NOS provided Scottish Water with the chance to promote best practice and adopt a proactive approach to skills and competency management. All other water companies are required to have this mapping process finished by the end of the year. Under the Framework, all existing staff in treatment plants must be trained to the defined competency levels by 31 December 2008.
There are many benefits to a competent workforce, including delivering better and safer operational performance and less risk of a breach of regulations, a more robust due diligence defence should something go wrong, and a potential reduction in the frequency/scope of technical audits by regulators.
Energy & Utility Skills, the Sector Skills Council for the electricity, gas, waste management, and water industries, has facilitated the introduction of the Framework. Energy & Utility Skills is designing a suite of new qualifications under the Framework in conjunction with and on behalf of the water companies. The approach is revolutionary as it not only challenges the existing vocational qualification systems by letting companies use their own training schemes, but marks a first for the industry as the whole water industry has agreed to the same standards.
The demands of the Framework are binding to all water companies, as all have signed up to participate.
Paul Campbell, Skills Development Manager Scottish Water HR & Development, comments: “The Operator Competency Framework is an excellent example of collaboration between a Sector Skills Council, the UK water industry and our water industry regulators. The Framework itself provides a flexible and innovative approach for water companies to demonstrate the operational competence of our people. Within Scottish Water implementation of the framework has helped to build confidence among our water treatment operators and we have found it to be an excellent vehicle on which to promote water industry best practice and to adopt a proactive approach to skills development and competency management”.
David Hellier, Strategy & Development Manager (Water) Energy & Utility Skills, adds: “We are delighted at the success of Scottish Water's auditing and endorsing stage of the Operator Competency Framework. The Framework offers complete flexibility to meet the demands of employers whilst enabling them to use the training schemes they already have. The Operator Competence is just one of a number of schemes under the programme of Competency Frameworks which will mark a revolution in training for the water industry.”
