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Technical Competence

With regards to Waste Operations it is important to ensure the correct technical competence for your operators, it is important to give the right training there are a number of Institutes that offer training for specific operations.

   

Technical Competence - Buzz Words

WAMITAB

WAMITAB was established in 1989 with a remit to determine and advise on policy and standards of education, qualifications and training for all employees in the Waste Management Industry. WAMITAB is the awarding body for the waste management industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and joint awarding body, with SQA, for qualifications in Scotland.

CIWM

Chartered Institution of Wastes Management the leading professional body for waste and resource management.

How to achieve technical competence.

When the environmental permitting regulations were first introduced the EA (Environment Agency) made various allowances for site operators who were moving from paragraph exemptions to environmental permits. These worked by assuming that the operator was competent as they had been running a permitted site for a number of years, and so a window of 1 year was given for they to get an NVQ qualification for the management of their site.

If you applying for a new permit you will have to either nominate a technically competent manager, perhaps a consultant or to immediately start on training.

What does WAMITAB training involve.

Training to achieve technical competence is not overly demanding, and just about anyone can successfully complete the training. Do not let the word "technical" put you off! The NVQ route is best for those with less academic confidence and involves building up a folder of information over a number of weeks, each chapter of the folder covers different aspects of your operation, one chapter may focus on acceptance of wastes for example, and contain a method statement, and a waste transfer form amongst other things.

Do SWEL offer WAMITAB training?

Southwest Environmental do not provide WAMITAB training, but can provide a technically competent person to meet requirements whilst you carry out your own training.

Technical Competance Requirements for environmenta permitting regulationsCIWM logoSWEL Environmental Consultants do not provide training for WAMITAB, this has to arranged via WAMITAB they will advise on which units of study you will have to take. Different Permits will require a different set of units to be studied, if you all ready have some units it may be possible to "top-up" exist units to bring your self to an appropriate level of technical competence.

 

Technical Competence Example

Below is a request from the Environment Agency during a Permit Application:

Please provide evidence that you have registered for the appropriate WAMITAB award (MROC10b).

Please note that you must either –    

Complete the EPOC within 4 weeks of commencing the permitted activities and complete the full award within 12 months OR

Complete the 4 critical units of the MROC10b within 4 weeks of commencing the permitted activities and complete the remaining 2 units within 12 months.

EPOC

Most people register for the EOPC, you can do that here it is a 2 day course with a test at the end, we have never heard of anyone failing the test.

Extra Units

For some the EPOC will be all you require. But in the case of the above example (bio-logical waste) you may need to take extra units. For that you will need to contact a training provider. We use Talbot Training Services, but other providers are available.  

You can use a search box on the home page to generate a list of centers that offer your extra units training, and get in contact with them. Example search result.

What are EOPOC Critical Units?

The critical units are: