The Competence Management System, developed by Energy & Utility Skills, and approved by Defra and the Welsh Government, is now accredited by UKAS, the UK’s National Accreditation Body.
Energy & Utility Skills has worked with employers and stakeholders, including the Environmental Services Association, on a UKAS accreditation pilot for Certification Bodies for the Competence Management System.
The Competence Management System is a technical scheme that enables operators to demonstrate technically competent management of their permitted activities. This scheme is based on the recognition that the individual competence of all employees contributes to the overall performance of a site.
Developed on behalf of Energy & Utility Skills’ waste management, water and power industry members, the Competence Management System is rapidly becoming adopted as an industry benchmark. UKAS Accreditation provides assurance in the market that it operates to recognised standards.
The Competence Management System provides a host of benefits to employers:
- It supports competence awareness by removing reliance on specific individuals (that may be unavailable due to leave or sickness)
- It enables management to optimise the use of resources across a number of sites, which maintains business operational continuity and compliance
- It reduces logistical issues, incident response times, costs and potential risks, including the risk of site downtime
The Competence Management System also provides benefits to regulators, by elevating the importance of environmental protection as driven by senior management and assesses competence on an ongoing basis, rather than every other year.
Chief Executive Nick Ellins commented “The Competence Management System is quickly being adopted by the infrastructure asset businesses as an optimal way to ensure that competence is embedded right across their organisation, and the subject is kept live and continually reviewed rather than just checked every few years. The approach is proving cost efficient and ensures that subject of technical competence is fully owned by the operator, and not left to the judgement and skills of specific individuals”.
To find out more about the Competence Management System, or request a copy of the standard, please contact us by phone on 0845 077 99 22 or email denise.mcglynn@euskills.co.uk.