Relevant Statutes:
· Health
and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
· Management
of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 [MHSWR]
· Offshore
Installations (Prevention of Fire and Explosion, and Emergency Response)
Regulations 1995 [PFEER]
· Management
and Administration Regulations 1992 [MAR]
Legislation requires all members of the workforce to be
competent and adequately trained to work safely and requires specified members
of the workforce to be competent to carry out certain 'safety critical' tasks.
The duty to
ensure that employees are competent to carry out their work safely, and that
specific employees are competent to carry out appointed duties lies firmly with
employers (or the operator/owner under onshore-specific legislation). It is the
duty of the employer or operator/owner to demonstrate, where necessary, that
employees are competent.
Being
competent is not simply a matter of training; other elements such as experience
and knowledge are also important. However, training is a major factor in
becoming competent. Training should be outcome based, with clearly established
standards of competence, properly assessed and monitored to ensure that
standards are maintained. Where industry-wide training standards are
appropriate they should be developed in conjunction with established,
independent outside bodies with appropriate expertise and experience and with
capability to monitor standards. Standards developing bodies would normally be
expected to be representative of both the industry and its workforce as well as
training providers.
It is
desirable for industry guidelines on training to be developed in consultation
with workforce representatives, including trade unions, so that the workforce
may have confidence in them. HSE's role is to enforce the legislation. HSE does
not set training standards and does not approve or endorse training standards
or industry guidelines. However industry should consult HSE on proposed
guidelines so that HSE can offer advice and guidance.
Successful
completion of training development in accordance with the above principles
would provide strong, but not conclusive, evidence that an employee is
competent in the specific aspect of his functions covered by the training.
Competency assessment is also needed.
However, in many instances in order to demonstrate broad-based competence employees will need such core training to be supplemented by further knowledge, experience or on the job training. Employers would need to demonstrate, for enforcement purposes, that arrangements were in place to ensure that workers were competent, where appropriate using the relevant guidelines and standards; and that they had proper arrangements for verifying competence.