Setting the Standard for Blasting Competence

"A new set of blasting qualifications for shotfirers and explosive engineers should be available through the Mineral Products Qualification Council from as early as March," said Ben Donnachie, internal verifier and Assessor of the BAM Ritchies Division of BAM Nuttall.

Originally intended to be made available from December 2010, the approval process was slowed by a glitch in the regulatory authority's website that prevented ConstructionSkills from uploading the required endorsements.

There has never been a set of UK-wide industry recognised qualifications for blasting in construction or tunnelling. However, following an industry review to gauge interest in the creation of such a course, the robustly positive results from institutions such as ConstructionSkills, Proskills, the Institute of Explosives Engineers and also TunnelSkills, has spurred its creation and led to the first meeting at BAM Nuttall Training Centre, Halesowen on 9 September 2010.

According to Donnachie, TunnelSkills expressed its interest in the scheme to promote improved competence in the tunnelling industry by setting competence standards utilising qualifications based on appropriate National Vocational Qualifications based on National Occupational Standards.

The primary goal of these qualifications has always been to become a standardised method of demonstrating competence. Two requirements under The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 made it compulsory for all work to be carried out by a 'competent' person:

• BS6164:2001 - Code of practice for safety in tunnelling in the construction industry
• BS5607 - Code of practice for the safe use of explosives in the construction industry

A competent person is defined in the code as a person with sufficient training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to enable them to undertake the duties assigned to them.

There have been many discussions as to the best route to allow us to demonstrate competence. For many years the NVQ has been generally accepted as the preferred method of workplace assessment. However due to various sector requirements a cross sector standard has been
elusive, until now.

The introduction of the Qualifications and Credits Framework (QCF) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland allows existing units to be shared with other Awarding Organisations to produce sector specific qualifications.

This means that the current Blasting Operations QCF units can be used to provide suitable blasting
qualifications for Construction, Tunnelling, Demolition and Construction Diving.

"The new group of qualifications has been created to be a pathway of the existing Blasting Operations suite of qualifications and will be endorsed with Tunnelling,"said Donnachie.

He added, "These blasting qualifications are aimed at shotfirers and explosives engineers. Current in-house training courses could be assessed to National Occupational Standards and provide an industry recognised and transferable qualification."

The industry is familiar with NVQ Levels 1 – 5, with Blasting Operations set at NVQ Level 3. The QCF recognises achievement through awards of credit for units and qualifications and is more responsive to employer and learner needs.

All qualifications in QCF will have standardised titles, which determines the level, size and content.

The qualification title will determine the content.

Qualifications Available

• Shotfirer - Level 3 NVQ Diploma for Shotfiring in Construction (QCF)
• Explosives Storekeeper - Level 2 NVQ Certificate in Explosives Storage for Construction (QCF)
• Blast Designer - Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Blast Design for Construction (QCF)
• Explosives Engineer - Level 5 NVQ Diploma in Shotfiring Supervision for Construction (QCF)
• Bulk Explosives Truck Operator in Tunnelling - Level 2 NVQ Diploma for Bulk Explosive Truck Operations in a Tunnelling Environment (QCF)

Donnachie finished by saying, "The standardisation of shotfiring qualifications for Construction is
long overdue and will provide sector Shotfirers and Explosives Engineers with transferrable
qualifications. This will increase the professionalism of individuals, improve health & safety standards and reduce accidents within the blasting industry."

The working group on this project included:
Kevin Bennett BAM Nuttall;
Ben Donnachie BAM Ritchies;
Brian Earnshaw TunnelSkills;
Steve Goodgroves SPG Safety;
David Hudson Mineral Products Qualifications Council;
Malcolm Ingry Institute of Explosives Engineers;
Phil Robinson EPC-UK;
Andy Rotherham Proskills (SSC);
Phil Smith Health and Safety Executive (Explosives);
George Swann Construction Skills (SSC);
Andy Watson Mines Rescue Services

Below: The table shows the qualification comparisons with QCF (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), SCVQ (Scotland) and the old NVQ. The Blasting Operations suite of qualifications is set at NVQ Level 3

Tunnels & Tunnelling International -February 2011