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20 July 2015
Over the last few years the increase for personnel competency offshore, has resulted in a higher demand for recruitment agencies to train staff in the procedures of Competency Management. As one of its central values to “invest in people”, Atlas Professionals considers this a top priority for professionals to progress within this challenging industry.
Through the Atlas Competency Scheme (ACS), Atlas has endeavoured to meet the increased demand of competency management, following the guidelines set out by the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) a recognised grading system across various industries and disciplines.
As Atlas is dedicated in ensuring a reliable and competent workforce for clients, Atlas’ Offshore Survey and Construction Office has organised and has been training in two courses set out by the accredited assessment centre MTCS.
By training our internal staff and senior offshore personnel, Atlas is dedicated in ensuring that competency is covered throughout our network from application to mobilisation.
Assessor Course
The first of these courses was an Assessor Course where candidates would learn how to assess personnel on their competency when aboard a vessel. The course was directed at senior offshore personnel such as supervisors and client representatives, who had enough experience to review professionals during assessment activities.
"The course was really good, very informative and enjoyable and it was great to learn something new,” says Party Chief Ian Cartwright, “I need to go and carry out a few assessments now to practice.”
The course modules included assessment planning, collecting and judging evidence and providing feedback to all professionals during assessment.
The feedback received via the candidates was generally positive with some candidates asking for further competency training from Atlas. The course organisation, its approach and support materials, were given an excellent review by the candidates and encourages Atlas’ organisers to develop and expand the scheme.
Another course Atlas participated in was the Internal Verifier course, where Atlas’ internal staff trained in the right procedures to assess competency in offshore personnel.
Internal Verifier Course
The one day course instructed Atlas’ staff in the procedures in issuing and verifying personnel competency. The course was divided into six modules such as Quality Checking and Record keeping.
Operations Manager, Alex Meeks, from the Offshore Survey office explains how the training day went: “Account Managers within the Survey, Construction & ROV Business lines of Atlas Professionals attended the one day verifier training course at the beginning of July. The day kicked off with introductions followed by a brief history of assessing competence from our trainer Ian Durrell – Head of Quality & Assessment at MTCS.
This was followed by an interactive team discussion that questioned “what is competence?”
Ian went on to set out the objectives of the course which were; understanding the role of the internal verifier and how to become a qualified internal verifier within the MTCS Competence Management Programme.
A range of interactive sessions continued throughout the day which covered the assessment process, the skills of an assessor, the role of the internal verifier, information and record keeping, through to how to provide ongoing support to external verifiers and professionals.
Towards the end of our training, Account Managers were split into teams and were given a mock test where the Account Managers had to verify personnel competency for particular grades. They were then encouraged to discuss their findings for completeness and verification of information.
This course was a success for all involved and has provided our Account Managers with the knowledge to effectively facilitate the development and implementation of our Atlas Competency Scheme. The course also highlighted how we can support offshore assessors with onshore internal and external verifiers within our organisation.”
“I thought the course was straight forward,” says Survey Account Manager Ash Theasby. “I was expecting the process to be much more complex and detailed. However, I thought Ian was a very good presenter and conveyed the information clearly and effectively.”
“Ian gave a clear presentation and delivery of aims of the course,” says ROV Account Manager William Best. “Ian presented us with a solid plan of how it will be implemented by Atlas and the liaison we will have with MTCS going forwards. The course was definitely worthwhile, and should help push forward our involvement in the competency programme.”
Now, as qualified internal verifiers, Newquay’s staff will be registered into MTCS’ Competence Management scheme allowing further progression through IMCA’s grading system.
Through training days and courses such as this, Atlas is determined in providing a reliable, safe and competent workforce to the offshore industry.
