Articles
BTEC professional qualifications for petroleum officers By Chris Churchouse, Director of Training, Fire Risk Management Ltd The Background to the Qualifications The BTEC Professional Certificate and Professional Diploma in Petroleum Regulation have been developed to provide a medium for the in-depth study of the principles and practice of petroleum regulatory procedures and petroleum risk management. Introduced in September 2002 by Fire Risk Management Ltd., an approved centre to offer Edexcel qualifications, the syllabus was drawn up by former senior petroleum officers in consultation with a number of leading regulatory authorities, including the Environment Agency. Due to the high profile of the issue of competence, an increasing number of regulatory authorities throughout the UK and Northern Ireland are adopting the BTEC qualifications as a means of training their petroleum officers as they provide a nationally recognised yardstick for the measurement of the student's knowledge and understanding. The qualifications do not require students to provide evidence of an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject matter. Rather, emphasis is placed on enabling them to acquire the ability and confidence to carry out their duties as petroleum officers stemming from: · the capacity to research, assemble and present information relating to all aspects of petroleum regulation in a cogent, methodical manner · a secure knowledge of the law relating to petroleum regulation and the scope and limitations of their powers · adherence to enforcement procedures based upon the best practice of HSC guidelines · the application of sound principles of risk management · the ability to keep abreast of regulatory and technical developments Qualification is not by examination but by continuous assessment and a pass must be obtained in every unit of the syllabus. In order to achieve the standard required to pass each unit the student must be able to demonstrate an ability to carry out predetermined tasks or fulfil certain criteria in the completion of assignments. These "assessment requirements" are laid down in the syllabus, together with the unit content and prescribed set reading. Guidance notes provide both direction and information relating to the study of each unit. The Structure of the Qualifications BTEC qualifications are modular in form, consisting of a number of units of learning. Each unit is accorded a nominal
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number of hours that the candidate might reasonably be expected to take to complete the necessary study, including the preparation of assignments. The total number of study hours accorded to a qualification determines whether it is an Award (30 to 90 hours), Certificate (120 to 180 hours) or Diploma ( 240 to 360 hours). The level of BTEC qualifications range from Introductory or Entry level, to level 5, Advanced Professional. The Professional Certificate and Diploma are level 4 qualifications. The Diploma consists of two parts as follows: Part 1: (Professional Certificate) Unit 1: Petroleum Legislation Unit 2: Enforcement Procedures Unit 3: Risk Management Unit 4: Inspection and Monitoring Part 2: Unit 5: Site Construction Unit 6: Road Tanker Deliveries Unit 7: Safety Procedures Unit 8: Petroleum and the Environment Unit 9: Investigative Study in Petroleum Safety It will be seen from the above that Part 1 of the Diploma is a qualification in its own right, namely the Professional Certificate. Candidates successfully completing Part 1 are awarded the Professional Certificate and then may elect to take Part 2 in order to complete the Diploma. The Units which comprise Part 1 (Professional Certificate) are regarded as being core essentials for the role of the Petroleum Officer, hence the value of Part 1 as an individual qualification. Great emphasis is placed on the HSC Section 18 Guidance to Local Authorities as being best practice. In addition, guidance is given on report writing and students are required to consider layout and presentation when submitting their assignments. The assignments associated with Part 2 differ from those in Part 1 in that students are required to carry out their own in-depth research to produce technical papers, presentations and surveys. The purpose is to prepare the student for a senior position in petroleum regulation, which may include participation on technical and regulatory working parties, as well as validating
suitability for a training role. Successful Diploma students may also be approached to become assessors for the qualifications. Study and Assessment Candidates for the qualifications undertake an open learning course with full back-up being provided by the FRM training team. Most candidates submit type-written scripts and there is facility for the submission of assignments by e-mail, subject to the observance of procedures approved by Edexcel. Following the assessment of the assignments the candidate receives a progress report by e-mail incorporating the assessor's comments. Where an assignment fails to achieve pass standard it is referred back to the candidate with reasons for the referral. The candidate is then able to revise or remodel the assignment which is then resubmitted. FRM is able to report that the overall standard of work submitted is of high merit. Students who initially feared that they were disadvantaged by not having an academic background or who had not taken any form of qualification for many years have proved to be amongst the most competent. Many assignments which have been submitted are of such high calibre that they are worthy to be regarded as reference works in their own right. In addition, much of the research work carried out by candidates engaged in Part 2 of the Diploma has proved to be revelatory and incisive. (All assignments remain the copyright and intellectual property of the student). In keeping with the requirements of Edexcel, the timescale for the completion of each part of the Diploma is one year from receipt of the assignments. In practice, the time taken to obtain the qualifications depends largely on the degree of application on the part of the student. A candidate recently completed Part 1 (Professional Certificate) in just under three months, all assignments being of a very high standard. In general terms, candidates benefit from the momentum of adhering to a selfgenerated schedule and timescale. Candidates report that they find the course work challenging in its attention to detail, but that they enjoy the stimulus of gaining a qualification which enhances their professional status and approach to work in the field. Further details regarding the qualifications may be obtained from Fire Risk Management Ltd. Tel: 01494 532113 E-mail: info@fireriskman.co.uk www.fireriskman.co.uk
