Industry’s commitment to assuring competence a great example of safety leadership in action

By Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) Chief Executive Andrew Hockey

As the employer-led skills body for the engineering construction industry, the ECITB  prioritises ensuring the industry has the skilled workers it needs, especially when it comes to health and safety.

But while workers are always required to undertake basic safety training before being deployed to safety-critical sites – such as our CCNSG Safety Passport national course – they do not necessarily need to demonstrate their ‘current’ technical competence to ensure activities are carried out safely.

The ECITB’s Labour Forecasting Tool predicts 40,000 extra workers could be needed in the industry by 2028, and so the need to build resilience and make sure workers entering sites are technically competent has never been more important. 

There should be no room for error when working in such hazardous environments because, as we’ve seen, the consequences can be devastating.

Incidents such as Piper Alpha, Bacton Gas Terminal and Deep Water Horizon were all avoidable. Serious managerial failures were attributed to all these events, including the lack of diligence around the recognition and assurance of competence standards.

A string of mistakes created the perfect storm for the world’s most severe and fatal offshore oil and gas accident when 167 people were killed on Piper Alpha in 1988 due to “inadequate maintenance and safety procedures”.

One of the biggest drivers behind the Connected Competence initiative is to help avoid workplace incidents like this.

Connected Competence assuring ‘base level’ standards

Connected Competence is an industry-driven initiative, supported and enabled by the ECITB, which assures an ongoing base level of technical competence for workers across the industry.

Developed with some of the UK’s largest contracting companies, each has committed to working together to use standardised testing to create a safer, more competent and transferable workforce.

Connected Competence was formally adopted as an industry-wide framework in 2021, focused initially on aligning base technical competence standards among oil and gas workers.

The initiative reduces the duplication of assessments and costs, speeds up the deployment of competent personnel between sites, but most importantly, increases safety through the recognition and ongoing assurance of base technical competence.

It aims to standardise a common approach, benchmarked against National Occupational Standards, by requiring workers to demonstrate their ongoing technical competence every three to four years. 

When the base standard has been achieved – either at site, as part of an employer’s competence management system, or at a testing centre – candidates receive a digital badge, of which more than 22,000 have been issued since 2021.

By every site-based worker assuring their ongoing base technical skills, we can take great strides towards a safer industry for everyone.

Making an ongoing commitment

Connected Competence employers have demonstrated outstanding commitment to safety in their collaborative actions to standardise a base level of technical competence for site-based trades.

The initiative is mandated by major service companies, including Aker Solutions, Bilfinger,  Global E&C, Ponticelli, Petrofac, Semco Maritime, Stork, Wood and Worley, while 20 asset owners, including Shell, bp, Serica Energy and Harbour Energy, have now signed the Connected Competence Client Charter.

Signing the charter commits asset owners to recognising and promoting Connected Competence as the industry base standard for technical competence assurance, including it in supply chain contracting strategies and supporting the continued success of the scheme.

Connected Competence is recognised not only by clients and supply chain contractors but regulators, industry associations, government and trade unions, who have all contributed to the collaborative efforts of the scheme.

This collaboration around competence assurance has been an excellent example of safety leadership in action.

The successful delivery of the energy transition will require the industry’s continued support for Connected Competence to help steer the delivery of a safer, larger pool of technically competent workers to benefit the industry.

The ongoing skills being assured through Connected Competence are common skills relevant across all sectors of the engineering construction industry.

The goal is to expand the initiative across other energy sectors, such as nuclear, wind, onshore refining and chemical industries, to enable skills transfer across sectors and support workforce safety and resilience for the energy transition.

Find out more about Connected Competence at connectedcompetence.co.uk