Competence DVD published by IMCA

Published on 15 April 2013

Competence and training are core activities for the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA). It provides guidance on competence assurance and assessment, training, and information on recruitment and careers in offshore, marine and underwater engineering to companies around the globe.

Now to promote the importance of demonstrating competence in the workplace, IMCA has published a DVD that can be played on vessels and installation systems as part of familiarisation and induction exercises.

Available in English, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Malay, Russian and Tagalog, the video looks at the ‘Why?’, ‘What?’, ‘When?’, ‘How?’, ‘Where?’ and ‘Who?’ aspects of competence (and a poster echoing these six key points is also available).

“Our competence assurance and assessment guidance provides members with a framework for creating their own in-house schemes for assessing and recording the competence of people working in safety-critical and other roles,” explains Jane Bugler, IMCA Technical Directive “It is especially designed for members who need to demonstrate the competence of their staff to clients and regulators and to adhere to standards such as ISO 9001.

“As the DVD explains, ‘competence assurance is a continual process, it starts when you begin your career and continues until your retirement, it includes your training, your day-to-day work and may involve formal assessment in the workplace. Knowing your competence levels at any one time means you can demonstrate, maintain and further develop your proficiency through targeted training and on-going education.’

Certification by industry-recognised third parties, as well as our own initiatives in this area, gives IMCA members access to a global training and competence development framework.

We recommend ways to members to promote awareness in government, universities, colleges and schools of the employment opportunities available in the offshore industry to talented and skilled personnel.”

IMCA has produced guidance documents for the assessment of over 50 positions, with additional guidance on assessor training. Freelance and agency personnel form an important part of the offshore workforce, IMCA helps these individuals to develop a portfolio of work records and competence assessments that can be transferred from one company to the next.

Copies of the DVD are available from IMCA at £10.00 +VAT for members and £20.00+VAT for non-members and can be ordered at www.imca-int.com , from publications@imca-int.com and from IMCA, from IMCA at 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)20 7824 5520; Fax: +44 (0)20 7824 5521.