Plant&Equipment

Special report
Training:
the key to
competence
in quarrying
One of the biggest
misconceptions surrounding
Scottish and National
Vocational Qualifications
(S/NVQs) is that many people
believe them to be training
courses. In actual fact,
S/NVQs are a measure of
existing competence to a
national standard. When
undertaking an S/NVQ it is
generally accepted that
the necessary and required
training has already been
carried out. If competence
is measured to a national,
audited and quality assured
standard, what of the training
that precedes it? Surely this
must also be subject to an
equally comprehensive,
measurable, national
standard. You may think that,
but you would be wrong…
How is Training Conducted?
Never before has the issue of adequate and
appropriate training for quarry personnel been
so crucial. Historically, the industry has an
ageing and contracting workforce, but now
things are beginning to change. The retirement
of many older employees working within
quarrying over the years has also coincided
with an influx of migrating workers from Europe.
This presents both new challenges and new
opportunities for the provision of effective mobile
plant training.
Traditionally, mobile plant training has been
carried out in a localised and informal way with
new operators learning from older and more
experienced colleagues. The obvious problem
with this approach is the lack of standardisation.
Operators working for the same company, even
on the same site, may have received different
instruction and learnt different techniques – not
all of which are desirable.
Smaller companies may call on the services of
independent plant trainers who are accredited
to issue licences once satisfactory training
has been conducted. Larger companies can
employ people to conduct plant operator training
within the organisation. This ensures a level
of consistency, but consistency with what?
Trainee operatives will still take their cues from
the person conducting their training. In the past,
new operatives would undergo basic training
and then carry out a suitable programme of work
of three months (which is recommended by the
licensing body but not a mandatory requirement)
to gain the appropriate licence. The logical
progression would then be to undertake an
S/NVQ at level 2.
It is interesting to note that although plant
operator licence schemes and S/NVQs may be
standardised and monitored, the quality and
delivery of basic operator training is not.
A potential solution to this problem would be for
all new operatives to undertake a standardised
induction & training programme endorsed by
the nationally recognised awarding body for the
industry. This could be a recorded, formalised
precursor to the S/NVQ and might even yield
useful evidence of a candidate’s learning
and competence. Although this could not be
made mandatory, it could be recommended as
best practice. At present the OPERC code of
practice for operator training is voluntary and
not mandatory, (although a mandatory code of
practice does exist for the training and use
of lift trucks).
26
February 2008