08 Apr 2008
The afternoon of the 3rd April 2008 saw over 49 delegates, from over 39 different organisations come together for Cogent’s & NEPIC’s Competence Assurance Self Assessment Framework Event hosted by HCF at CATCH. The afternoon started with a light networking lunch, with plenty of business cards changing hands.
Glyn Hughes, CEO of Humber Chemical Focus, opened the proceedings with
an introduction and safety briefing. Iain
Taylor from NEPIC was the first to formally address the
audience. Iain spoke of the process NEPIC and Cogent had gone through to build
the online Competency Assurance Self Assessment Framework Tool and the reason
why a competent workforce is so important to the Process Industry. From the
research and employer engagement process NEPIC and Cogent had undergone, they
defined six key principles that would help establish a quantitative measure of
individual organisations competence. These include:
1.
Demonstrating Leadership & Commitment,
2.
Identifying Business Critical Activities,
3.
Setting Procedures & Standards
4.
Compliance Against Your Standards
5.
Taking Action to improve Competence,
6.
Commitment to Continuous Improvement.
Walter Williamson from Cogent then described what the online tool had set
out to achieve and the security systems that had been built into the website to
ensure confidentiality. Questions followed with a number of suggestions being
raised for potential improvements to the system.
Kevin Allars, Head of the Chemicals Industries Division at the Health
& Safety Executive kindly took to the stage next. Kevin firstly mentioned
his forthcoming new position within the HSE Nuclear Division, proudly supporting
the event on his last day in his current role. Kevin stressed the importance of
a competent workforce in the Hazardous Industries, adding “Any businesses
biggest strength is its people”. The collaborative approach Kevin has adopted
when working with Industry was warmly received by the audience.
Kevin Lancaster from Total
Lindsey Oil Refinery began his presentation with a brief history of the site and
the drivers for an increasing focus on competency for the site. Kevin touched on
the schemes the Humber Bank Manufacturers and national organisations are
deploying to help improve competency within the engineering workforce. Kevin’s
key message was that industry has to work together to collaboratively improve
the competency of a critical pool of labour and mobile workforce.
After a
short coffee break, the remaining attendees where given an online demonstration
of the tool Cogent and NEPIC had developed. Further details can be viewed www.cogent-competence.com
Thanks to
all of the speakers supporting the event. We hope you enjoyed the event and
gained some benefits from it.
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