|
A good competence management system (CMS) will bring real and lasting benefits in terms of business and safety performance.
There is an increasing focus by industry regulators and professional bodies on the need for formal processes for developing, maintaining and monitoring the competence of staff. For example, in the rail industry the recent Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems regulations (ROGS) requires organisations to manage the competence of safety-critical staff using best-practice guidance published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). For organisations involved in the design, development, operation and maintenance of safety-related systems (i.e. fly-by-wire, fire protection, safety monitoring systems for medical, nuclear and other high-hazard applications) the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in partnership with the Institution of Engineering Technology (IET) and the British Computer Society (BCS) have recently published guidance on mananging staff competence.
Effective competence management systems use a structured, risk-based approach for developing competence standards and using these to develop and assess competence. An effective competence management system will monitor each of the key components of competence, as shown below:
At its best, effective competence management will dramatically improve staff and business performance, as well as reduce risks and the potential for human error. At its worst it can present a significant administrative burden that leaves many real risks uncontrolled.
|
The potential benefits of an effective competence management system include:
- Improved staff motivation and performance
- Reduced frequency and severity of incidents and accidents
- Reduced costs
- Greatly simplified administration for assessors.
We offer unrivalled expertise in helping you improve your competence management system (CMS) or to design and implement a tailored system from scratch. We provide effective and efficient solutions focused on meeting HSE and ORR regulations that can, as a positive by-product, be used for your staff to achieve National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). |
|
Downloads
 RPD competence management paper presented to the 2008 Safety and Operations in Canals & Waterways international conference, ISBN 978-0-947649-29-6.
HSE/IET/BCS guidance on managing competence for safety-related systems (710Kb)
ORR guidance on developing and maintaining staff competence (394Kb)
RPD Newsletter 'Competence Matters' Issue 2 (652Kb)
RPD Newsletter 'Competence Matters' Issue 1 (533Kb)
Competence management systems for rail engineering organisations (267Kb);extract from 'Rail Human Factors; Supporting the integrated railway', Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 0-7546-4382-4, 2005
Competence management - rolling stock organisations (1Mb); Rail Safety and Standards Board research report
Managing competence of transport maintenance staff (2.33Mb); Rail Safety and Standards Board research report
HSE Research report - competence assessment for the hazardous industries (1.14Mb)
Development of competence assessment criteria for supervisors in safety critical roles (1.79Mb); Rail Safety and Standards Board research report
External links
Health & Safety Executive: Human Factors - competence
Paul Durrant, Terry Colbourn, George Mawby, John Baker
|