Fire and Rescue Services
GQA EQA / Technical Officer Simon Smith carried out a centre visit with Shropshire Fire and Rescue in Telford recently, meeting with the team to discuss their requirements for being able to assess competency in the work environment, and to share their achievements to date.
Development Support Officer Sarah Batho explained “The Fire and Rescue National Framework for England outlines the priorities for fire and rescue authorities to develop and maintain a workforce that is professional, resilient, skilled, flexible and diverse”.
“Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is fully committed to developing its employees and will always strive, within financial boundaries, to qualify staff to relevant national occupational standards. There is a pro-active stance from management to ensure that all staff possess the competence they require to fulfil their responsibilities and carry out their duties in ways which support our key service objectives. It is important that this process is carried out to the highest standards and demonstrates equality, fairness and best value. As part of this quality initiative all training, wherever possible, will be designed, delivered and assessed against nationally accredited standards”.
All Shropshire Fire Rescue Service line managers actively assessing must be occupationally competent. This means that each assessor must, according to current sector practise, be competent in the functions covered by the units/modules they are assessing. All full time personnel carrying out the role of Assessor in line with their role profile, and all support staff assessors must have achieved or be working towards the Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment.
Commenting for GQA, Simon Smith said “this was a great visit, and it is gratifying to work with people who really understand the value of qualifications and the beneficial impact they have on their ability to perform their roles. In this case their roles couldn’t be more important, so it is doubly rewarding”.
Pictured from left to right, Simon Smith (GQA), Paul Gray (Station Manager) Adam Matthews (Area Manager) Sarah Batho (Centre Coordinator / Assessor / Development Support Officer) Phil Davies (Station Manager and Development Lead IQA) Adrian Taylor (Watch Manager / Trainee Assessor on Blue Watch).
