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BACM says YESMEMBERS of the British Association of Colliery Management-Technical, Energy and Administration Management (BACM-TEAM) have voted overwhelmingly to merge with Prospect.

BACM represents employees in the mining industry, including engineers. On a turnout of 51.5%, 96.1% voted in favour of a transfer to Prospect. So BACM’s 450 working members and 1,400 retired members joined the wider Prospect family in November.

Commenting on the outcome, BACM‘s general secretary, Pat Carragher (above right with Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy) said: “The decision is an overwhelming endorsement of the BACM national executive committee’s determination that its members’ future would be best protected by a merger with Prospect.”

Welcoming the result, Clancy said: “We are the ‘go to’ union on policy and professional interests.

“Our organisational model has already persuaded a number of trade unions that wanted to benefit from the collective strength of a larger organisation, while maintaining their own brand and industrial autonomy, to join us.”

Time to pull the plug on Punch and Judy politics

WE LIVE in interesting times. The announcement in October that Hinkley Point C has received state-aid approval was most welcome and achieved after considerable lobbying in the UK and at European level. Once operational HPC will provide 7% of the low-carbon electricity baseload generation that the UK so desperately needs.

Agreement at a European level will also hopefully pave the way for the construction of nuclear new build at Sizewell, and provide impetus and confidence for NuGen’s new build at Moorside and Hitachi’s new build at Oldbury and Wylfa. A final investment decision on HPC is expected by the end of the year or early in 2015.

But hot on the heels of the HPC decision, National Grid announced that energy margins are continuing to shrink as we move into winter, hitting an historic low and posing real challenges in matching supply and demand across the grid.

The grid’s warning prompted considerable media speculation that the lights may go out. While this may make headlines, it reinforces the concerns that our members have been voicing

for over a decade. There is a real need to invest in capacity as well as skills in the energy sector.

The focus on declining margins also drew attention to the contingency measures being put in place in order to try to ensure that customers’ lights stay on. Part of that includes paying energy-intensive industries to alter production schedules or cease production at peak times of day.

Yet figures show that the major contributor to the lights staying on has not been a coherent and effective energy policy, but the 2007-08 financial crash, the recession and resultant dip in demand across the economy.

So, as we move towards the 2015 general election there will never be a more important time for the voices of Prospect members to be heard on energy policy. Politics on energy has to move beyond

the sound bite and look beyond the timeframe of the electoral or news cycle.

Notions of “ditching the green rubbish” or the demonisation of the “Big Six” do not make for a long-term energy

policy based on fact and evidence. Punch and Judy politics have led us to where we are – the first industrial nation now asking major industrial consumers to potentially cease production at peak periods. If this happened in another country we would have very particular words to describe it.

Not only is there a pressing need to invest in capacity and infrastructure, but also to invest in skills. Prospect recently held a seminar on skills in the energy sector (see pages 6-7).

ENERGYEYEProspect members in energy and decommissioning

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Deputy general secretary Garry Graham says it is time for politicians to act on shortages of capacity, infrastructure and skills in the energy sector

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Published by Prospect New Prospect House, 8 Leake Street, London SE1 7NN EnergyEye editor: Katherine Beirne e: katherine.beirne@prospect.org.uk t 020 7902 6625Printed by College Hill Press

We had speakers from industry and research bodies. They highlighted the challenges many of our members have been describing for years. The demographics of the professionals working in the sector make for startling reading, with as many as four out of five due to retire over the next decade.

Employers are competing for scarce skills in STEM subjects. There are key challenges in terms of how the industry makes itself attractive to those entering the labour market and how it ensures that it is tapping into the widest pool of talent in terms of gender and ethnicity.

Prospect has a key role to play. As part of a clean and balanced energy policy we should be investing not only

in renewables but also carbon capture and efficient coal and gas generation.

New nuclear will be crucial in terms of generating reliable low-carbon base load generation for years to come. These challenges are also great opportunities – providing good quality careers for those coming into the industry with the noble ambition of keeping the lights on for the UK.

If you have a colleague who is not already a member please encourage them to join – there has never been a more important time for our voice to be heard.

q from previous page

Time to pull the plug on Punch and Judy politics

EU decision on Hinkley is welcome – now let’s buildCAMPAIGNERS FOR a balanced UK energy policy breathed a sign of relief in October after the European Commission ruled that the strike price agreed for the new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C did not breach state-aid rules.

There had been fears that any further barriers to its construction would scare investors away from the UK and stop any new nuclear renaissance in the UK in its tracks.

But, after a 10-month investigation and despite strong campaigning from anti-nuclear groups, the commission ruled that the strike price agreed between the government and an EDF Energy-led consortium was “proportionate” and would “avoid any undue distortions of competition”.

European competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said: “We have concluded a market failure exists. Without support this investment would not take place.”

But he added: “This decision will not create any kind of precedent,” before describing Hinkley Point as a project of “unprecedented nature and scale”.

In addition, aspects of the original deal have been modified to reduce the burden on taxpayers by more than £1bn. Originally the government

agreed that EDF Energy would be paid a strike price of £92.50 for every megawatt hour of energy Hinkley C generates. (If EDF builds a second new plant at Sizewell in Suffolk, this price will be lower – £89.50 – because the company can share costs between the sites.)

However, the commission has ruled that if EDF Energy’s overall profits exceed the rate estimated at the time it was awarded the contract, any gains will be shared with the public. It has also defined

a second, higher threshold above which the public would be given more than half of the gains, through lowering the cost of the strike price.

Responding to the news, Prospect deputy general secretary Garry Graham said: “While we recognise that other nuclear new builds will have to negotiate their own strike price, and that the EDF price is likely to constitute the

‘high water’ mark, this hopefully gets the wheels in motion for nuclear new build as part of a balanced low-carbon energy mix for the UK.

“This is not least because of Ofgem’s recent warning over spare electricity capacity by 2015. That threat is becoming more and more real as older plant comes offline, so we cannot afford to delay any longer. We need to start building now.”

BUILDING ON A STRONG BASEPROSPECT and Unite have jointly signed a recognition agreement with EDF Energy to represent construction supervisors at Hinkley Point C.

When construction gets under way there will be around

600 supervisors on site to ensure a construction period that is safe, on-time and to-cost.

It is the first time that Prospect has been recognised in construction and builds on the union’s existing role

in nuclear and the strong relationships it has built over recent years.

At its peak, the site will employ more than 6,000 staff during a seven-year construction period.

The EC ruled that the strike price agreed between the government and EDF was ‘proportionate’ and would ‘avoid any undue distortions of competition’

EDF EN

ERGY

If a colleague is not a member encourage them to join – there has never been a more important time for our voice to be heard

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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE OF REGULATION

Electricity regulation in Great Britain is under considerable pressure, not least because the Labour Party has committed itself to reform, replacing Ofgem with a more powerful regulator. Prospect negotiator Mike Macdonald reports

WHILE politicians have attacked Ofgem for being ineffective over retail prices, for network businesses the regulator’s preferred fast-track approach to setting prices has not worked well.

All the distribution network operators failed to meet the criteria for fast-tracking, apart from Western Power Distribution. As Energy Eye went to press, DNOs were still waiting to know what prices are proposed for next April and whether or not to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority.

This uncertainty was not what we expected from Ofgem’s new approach to competition. Also, as Ofgem effectively sub-contracted consultation over the change to the DNOs, Prospect, like other stakeholders, has been frustrated because even when we reach agreement with the DNOs over their business cases, Ofgem often rejects them.

In mid-October, deputy general secretary Garry Graham and I met Anna Rossington, who is leading Ofgem’s RIIO (Revenue = incentives + innovation + outputs) review of electricity distribution networks.

We raised the importance of health and safety, training and innovation as three factors that create a safe, efficient and flexible set of networks. With the growth of smart metering and smart grids, the operation and development of networks becomes more challenging and companies need to have the funds to invest in skills if consumers are to see the maximum benefit of new technology.

While Ofgem robustly challenged our arguments for a longer-term of regulation, it did recognise the value of involving Prospect in decisions about the funding of networks for the next eight years of the RIIO price settlement.

We believe that better consultation between Ofgem and stakeholders such as ourselves will improve the regulatory process at a time when energy policy is contentious and key decisions about our future energy supplies need to be made.

Whatever form Ofgem or its successor takes, Prospect remains committed to making sure that the views and professional expertise of our members influences the regulatory decisions that set our future.

DIZZY HEIGHTSCONGRATULATIONS to Peter Riste, a distribution planning engineer and Prospect member at UK Power Networks, for recruiting the branch’s 1,200th member. Peter said: “I believe it’s important to have a strong union base within UKPN as this improves the collective power of the employees, looking after their interests and protecting their rights.”

■ Don’t forget Prospect’s member recruit member incentive. See www.prospect.org.uk/mrm for more details.

New owners end uncertainty for EggboroughEGGBOROUGH POWER Limited has been sold to Energeticky a Pr °umyslovy

Holding (EPH), an integrated energy company based in Prague. EPH operates a number of coal-fired power stations in central Europe, and has coal mines in eastern Germany and Poland connected to power stations.

Eggborough has operated as a stand-alone power station owned by a consortium of financial institutions since 2009. But, as Prospect negotiator Mike Macdonald explained:

“Uncertainty in the energy market, and the need for significant investment to meet environment constraints, pointed to a more secure future for the power station as part of a wider energy group.

“Despite missing out on government support for long-term use of biomass, the station has remained open and completed two major outages this year as the low

price of coal has enabled it to produce cheap electricity.

“But EPH’s financial structure enables sustained investment in deep mines to secure long-term security of energy supplies, the lack of which is a major cause of job insecurity for Prospect members employed in deep mining in the UK.”

EPH also operates as a distribution operator in the Czech Republic but has so far not invested in the UK, meaning the purchase is subject to European Commission approval, expected in mid-December.

“Assuming that the European Commission approves the sale, the new ownership offers Eggborough a future as part of an experienced power group,” said Macdonald. “This sale meets the call for more competition in the generation market and we welcome the continued role for coal and biomass in the UK.”

■■ Despite■missing■out■on■government■support,■Eggbrough■has■remained■open■and■completed■two■major■outages■this■year

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4 HEALTH & SAFETY

Powering Improvement’s 2010 vision was for the UK electricity industry to be a world leader in health and safety by 2015. As it heads towards phase two, Prospect’s Sarah Page reflects on progress and reports on plans for the campaign’s expansionMOST PROSPECT members in the electricity industry, and certainly our health and safety reps, have heard of Powering Improvement.

Many, however, are sceptical about the campaign’s success, not least because of its invisibility in some organisations, where “brand police” have prevented company health and safety initiatives from being badged with the PI logo.

This has hampered our ability to measure PI’s penetration – and the Health and Safety Executive shares our concerns. But, while it is tempting to equate a lack of visibility with a lack of action, we must resist. PI is without doubt influential.

It has brought a sense of shared purpose and galvanised participant companies and their unions at a national level.

The annual themes have generated company resources and the collaboration of their specialists to inject expertise into priority areas.

In 2011 this was occupational health, giving OH practitioners a profile that has enhanced their influence. Their voices join ours in highlighting concerns about rising stress levels and making the business case for measures to prevent mental ill health, such as anxiety, depression and burnout.

In 2012 the focus on process safety was aided by evidence of industry complacency emerging from HSE’s investigation into the tragic death in 2008 of 59-year old Prospect member John Higgins, when a tap change in a Chelmsford substation triggered an explosion.

So, whether or not you’ve seen the PI logo on company instructions, or in workshops on asset management/maintenance, seems less important than member companies actually delivering on their commitments.

My advice is for health and safety reps to make PI a standing agenda item for their health and safety committees and/or forums.

Make sure you know who your company National HESAC – the electricity industry’s health and safety committee – rep is and any members of the Energy Networks Association or Energy UK occupational health groups. Ensure they report back to your committees and ask whether their initiatives are informed by the campaign.

So what next? IT’S CLEAR that including contractors is essential and will also deter those who mistakenly believe that outsourcing enables them to shirk health and safety responsibilities. So next year’s PI theme is “engaging contractors”.

It brings new challenges; whether contractors recognise unions or not, they are duty bound to consult and involve their staff and we need to support this. So extending our health and safety rep coverage within contractor companies is vital.

This is not to suggest that existing Prospect health and safety reps take on bigger constituencies (don’t panic!); but we need to enlighten contractors to the business benefits of the “union effect”. Remember, effective health and safety representation halves (on average) accident and ill-health rates.

Despite our concerns about soaring stress levels, energy sector unions agreed to postpone the focus on occupational health till 2016.

This does not mean we will ease off our activity on stress. But building

■■ Powering■Improvement■–■out■of■sight■must■not■mean■out■of■mind

Delivering on safety is what counts

our relations with the contractors is a strategic priority, plus it gives us longer to agree the language for the stress management focus.

Because, despite our collective support for the European-wide healthy workplaces campaign, which is currently “managing stress”, energy sector companies typically prefer to

say “well-being” or “resilience” and this bothers us.

It’s not semantics: many “well-being” approaches

target individual self-help and reactive support for people already distressed. While some are positive, the energy sector also needs to address organisational stress prevention.

Good job design, well-managed change, supportive absence and performance management plus giving workers a say in decisions that affect them are examples of organisational stress risk management that is compliant with health and safety law.

So we look forward to PI phase two with the resolve to continue our contributions.

I am always on the lookout for reps who to help communicate the PI messages. If you would like to be a Prospect PI advocate, please email safetyreps@prospect.org.uk.

■ Sarah Page is Prospect’s health and safety officer.

■■ Page■–■including■contractors■is■essential

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EARLY ENGAGEMENT with staff through their unions was key to the smooth opening of Sellafield’s £18m Albion Square office complex, based off-site and in the heart of Whitehaven.

Described as a world-class facility that will regenerate Whitehaven town centre, the new offices were officially opened on 17 October.

Eventually the site will accommodate 1,000 Sellafield workers, reducing traffic at the high security reactor site; offering upgraded working conditions; reducing commutes in many cases; and ploughing money into the local economy.

The smooth transition would not have been possible without months of negotiation between Prospect and Sellafield management to iron out

■■ Professor■Fyfe■(front)■at■the■official■opening■of■the■office■with■(l■to■r)■NDA■CEO■John■Clarke;■Copeland■MP■Jamie■Reed;■Sellafield■managing■director■Tony■Price;■and■Copeland■council■leader■Elaine■Woodburn

concerns over issues such as parking and the increased footfall in the town, said Prospect Sellafield branch president Peter Clements.

“The facilities management team at Sellafield engaged with us really early on in the process, so we were able to work with them while the building was still being constructed – that

Trust and engagement make for smooth openingestablished a level of trust which is really important in any relationship.

“They put together a good welcome pack with bus and train times so people can use public transport and with information about local shops and cafes, plus a lot of work was done with the media to highlight opportunities for local businesses and staff.”

The Albion Square building is named the John Fyfe Building, after Professor John Fyfe, CBE, who has been instrumental in West Cumbria’s regeneration over the past 30 years.

Professor Fyfe said: “This is not just a centre of nuclear excellence but also economic development. Nuclear is a nugget that other things can develop around.”

SELLAFIELD LTD

SURVEY REVEALS BARRIERS FACING WOMEN IN STEMMOST WOMEN hoping to return to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics after a career break say they face significant financial barriers.

This was one of the interim findings of a joint survey by Prospect and Talent Retention Solution, Women in Manufacturing and the Women’s Engineering Society, to uncover what is stopping women entering or returning to STEM careers.

Childcare costs and inflexible working hours were the main barriers reported by 5,000 respondents who included Prospect members, universities, networks – such as Mumsnet – and professional institutions such as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. More than one quarter (27%) said a lack of flexible working options – such as flexitime, job sharing and opportunities for part-time work – was a problem.

Launching the results at a House of Commons event, Prospect’s director of communications and research Sue Ferns said: “Women in STEM want flexible working opportunities, more accessible career paths, top-up training

and mentoring support. These things would benefit the whole workforce.

“STEM women are an under-utilised talent pool. Many returners report barriers or say they have no idea how to get their ‘feet back in the door’. Yet we know from existing good practices that removing these barriers is eminently achievable, it is just that the pace of change is nowhere near quick enough.”

■ Sellafield Ltd is launching a women’s network on 12 December as part of its drive to attract more women to STEM.

The aim is to provide coaching and mentoring opportunities, support the progression of women in the workplace and attract more young women into the nuclear sector.

Employees attending the launch

event will represent site-wide professional groups, trainees and women employed throughout the supply chain.

Prospect Sellafield branch negotiator Audrey Uppington said: “The event reinforces the company’s commitment to encouraging women in STEM roles, including a pledge to increase the proportion of female apprentices, trainees and graduates by 10% by 2020. A quarter of last year’s apprentices were female.”

Linda Clements, a control systems team leader, local rep and member of the branch committee, will launch the network. Other speakers at the event include Sue Ferns, Prospect’s director of communications and research, energy minister Baroness Verma and George Beveridge, deputy managing director of Sellafield Ltd.

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THE skills challenge should be mastered in the same way the industry has tackled the safety agenda, according to Dave Newborough, UK human resources director at E.ON and current chair of the National Skills Academy for Power.

Newborough pulled no punches about the intense competition for skills, but he also stressed the key role unions have to play.

“I’m an industry guy so I know the impact you folk [unions] can have on the ground, so be really consistent with this message,” he said, urging reps to challenge employers over the steps they are taking to develop the skills of their employees.

Newborough explained NSAP is a subgroup of the Energy and Utility Skills group, designed to focus on skills in the power sector. He listed the drivers for change, including the lack of career paths and shifts in energy policy. “Ten years ago I was talking about growing our generation fleet, now I’m talking about downsizing, so how does that impact on a skills agenda?” New technology, he added, will also be key to a shift in thinking.

“I come from a distribution generation ancestry yet I am now running a retail business. In the UK’s power market we have typically thought of retail as sales, marketing and call

centres, but watch out, it is metering now.“In our business we are talking about things

like passports to work for smart metering because they will have a part to play in the UK. So how you keep cowboys out of this marketplace? Unless they’re accredited they don’t come.”

Attitudes, career pathway planning, and making the industry attractive to newcomers also need to be tackled. “The days of thinking a university education was essential are gone.”

He highlighted the status of engineering in Germany where “it can easily topple accountancy. Where does [engineer] fit in today’s England? In

The energy sector faces a looming skills crisis unless urgent measures are introduced. That was the key message from distinguished industry speakers at a recent Prospect skills seminar

OVER 40 delegates from a range of energy sector companies gathered at Prospect headquarters in October to hear about ways to tackle the tri-fold challenges of the ageing workforce, new low-carbon technologies and competition from other engineering-reliant professions.

Opening the event, deputy general secretary Garry Graham said the timing could not be more apposite coming the day after the European Commission gave the green light for Hinkley Point C, potentially opening the door for a new UK fleet of nuclear plants. But, he said, it also

crystallised the UK skills problem. “Trade unions have traditionally liked tight labour markets and used them to our advantage. So we could simply sit back, but that would not be the right thing to do.

“Labour markets can become so tight that they damage the industries our members work in. Our members want the companies they work for to succeed, and, quite rightly, to enjoy a stake in that success.” But this is not helped by “the toxic nature of what passes for a debate on energy”, said Graham, adding that the recession was the only reason the lights stayed on in recent months.

J E A N L L E W E LY N O B E

Fragmented and dismantledTHE COMPETING global demands for highly skilled STEM entrants was also a key theme in the presentation given by Jean Llewelyn OBE, chief executive officer of the National Skills Academy for Nuclear.

The academy was set up in 2008 to provide a non-competitive forum where employers can agree what is best for the industry.

Llewelyn said the skills crisis was made worse by the fact that “the UK has not undertaken any nuclear new build in a very long time”. Added to that, privatisation left “a fragmented industry with a dismantled national training infrastructure”.

NSAN’s 110 employer members are working to provide a strategic solution, including the development of nationally agreed training standards for induction,

covering site safety, history and industry behaviours. It aims to be the learning portal for the entire nuclear industry, with a range of initiatives covering graduates as well as experienced staff

Another key strand of NSAN’s work has been to develop a national skills passport in response to calls for a common language of competence. This, she said, would support working between companies and the transfer of skills across the industry, rather than having to repeat training with every site move.

Llewelyn said site licence companies and operators have agreed that the passport should also be requirement in supply chain tenders, so companies can demonstrate how they have invested in skills.

Prospect convenes skills crisis summit

DAV E N E W B O R O U G H

KEY ROLE FOR UNIONS IN DEVELOPING SKILLS

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Germany they don’t even question it or ask where the funding is coming from. They just know developing staff is the right thing to do in terms of the future of the economy.”

NSAP brings over 40 companies together to connect industry with educational providers, from universities to craft trade, to provide accredited training. It launched a competency accord in 2011, the equivalent to the nuclear skills passport, and provides standard accreditation to allow people to move more easily between jobs and companies.

Newborough said NSAP’s strong relationship with Ofgem means the cost of “up-skilling” is

now acknowledged in regulatory reviews, and it is pushing the skills agenda with procurement and supply chain contractors.

“We think nothing about putting safety responsibilities in our contracts to tell our supply chains what’s required, but we haven’t been doing it with the skills agenda. Why wouldn’t we? It will make a huge difference if the bigger employers take the supply chain with us.”

And while acknowledging the need for increased diversity, Newborough admitted NSAP is struggling with government to set targets for partnership agreements.

“The point about 25% of apprentices being female is fantastic. But companies will almost certainly come to us asking what they should commit to.” For example, he said, a water company in east Anglia is not going to get many applications from black, minority ethnic candidates.

Summing up Newborough said: “I’m really asking for your support. Frameworks, concepts, models are all really interesting, but this agenda has got to be about putting people in jobs.

“We have commitments to have 20,000 new learners by 2017 but that only becomes real when they are filling jobs.”

M I K E A N G U S

Career pathwaysMIKE ANGUS, corporate chief technologist at the National Nuclear Laboratory, spoke about the need to develop nuclear industry ambassadors to advise on future policy and development.

It takes at least 15 years experience to develop the expertise to be at the highest level, he said. But that poses a “double-whammy” as many staff

with this level of knowledge are now approaching retirement.

“We are part of a growing industry and we expect to grow, but not just in terms of an increased headcount.”

He said they needed a larger cohort of experts with the technical depth and breadth to understand their wider role in the company and in the global nuclear cycle. “Information is residing with dangerously small numbers of individuals and needs to be shared out.”

Angus said NNL’s solution is to look at supporting staff at key stages, covering:

● senior technical specialists – recognised nationally and internationally and with in-depth knowledge across the fuel cycle.

● professional scientist/engineer level – a company expert able to solve industry challenges and develop successors

● technical deliverer – with an understanding of the skills across the company and able to mentor junior staff.

N E I L R O B E R T S O N

Culture changeTHE INDUSTRY needs a culture change to encourage diversity and younger recruits, according to Neil Robertson, chief executive of the Energy and Utility Skills Group.

In a stark assessment of the skills crunch Robertson said. “We don’t have a secure talent pipeline. We need 208,000 recruits in the next 10 years, yet we have probably only got about 25% planned, while the industry age profile shows a peak at 50.”

He warned against a silo mentality, saying: “We have this thing called electricity and we like to divide it up in nuclear, renewables, conventional, biomass etc, and then we like to create a discipline and a professional body for each tiny little thing. We are totally inflexible. That’s the bad news.”

On the plus side, he said: “We have an industry that other countries would be proud of.” Diversity has to play a role if this is to be maintained. “Of the 250,000 people currently on the group’s skills passport system, 1% are women.”

Plus only 11 per cent of companies are recruiting young people. “We are not an industry that is good at bringing on people and this matters politically as well as economically.

“People give me health and safety reasons why we shouldn’t try people out but that’s nonsense. Are you telling me that there are more health and safety issues than in construction, manufacturing, mining?”

S U E F E R N S

Vital to attract more women to industryMAKING jobs in the energy sector more attractive to women is vital, said Prospect’s director of communications and research, Sue Ferns.

“At the moment only 6% of engineers are female when the figure for science is 13%, yet women are 50% of the workforce, so there is just something wrong there.”

Ferns said while underrepresentation is not a new phenomenon, it is not an issue the union can resolve on its own – Prospect is working with other stakeholders including educational, campaigning and professional bodies.

The union has also helped members in science,

technology, engineering and mathematics to discover what are the barriers to STEM careers (see story page 5).

“This is not an anti-men pitch,” she stressed, “the gender imbalance highlights the need for a constructive approach to an issue that is not only bad for individuals but also bad for business.”

DAV E N E W B O R O U G H

KEY ROLE FOR UNIONS IN DEVELOPING SKILLS

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NEW UNION TECHNICIAN CHAMPION WELCOMEDPROSPECT’S two-year project to support engineering and scientific technicians’ registration and progression via the Tech status is already gathering pace with the appointment of a part-time development worker.

Lloyd Collier, senior science technician with Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility, and a Prospect rep, took up the role at the beginning of this month.

As reported in the last issue of Energy Eye, Prospect is the only union to have secured funding – £114k – from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to undertake work to promote the technician registration route as a viable means to validate and develop skills.

Unlike graduates and apprentices,

■■ Lloyd■Collier,■left,■at■this■year’s■Tolpuddle■festival■with■Prospect■members■l-r:■Ele■Wade■(IPO);■Steve■Clark■(Devonport)■and■Mandy■Garrick■(National■Trust)

PROSPECT’S HEALTH and safety officer Sarah Page is rightly proud of the union’s health and safety reps.

As she says: “The role requires commitment, persistence and a thick skin! Effectiveness requires keeping up to date with health and safety developments and, of course, training and development.”

So Energy Eye asked Sarah what training is available.SP: All Prospect health and safety reps can apply for TUC training, provided by UnionLearn in local colleges or, for those who prefer the flexibility, online. Some of our reps have done the health and safety diploma electronically and have told us the experience was brilliant. Prospect also provides a three-day national course about three times a year, for which reps can apply via Prospect’s learning services website bit.ly/prospect_courses They mix reps from across our sectors and learn the different trials and triumphs, which can be eye opening!

SPOTLIGHTon health & safety tra in ing

who often have clear career development opportunities, technicians can all too easily become lost in an organisation.

In simple terms, the letters EngTech or RsciTech after a name indicate an individual who is a professionally registered engineering or registered science technician who has demonstrated the knowledge, skills and commitment to be placed on the national EngTech register of by professional engineering or science institutions on behalf of the

The aim is to train 20 EngTech advisors; map 10 workplaces; and develop two learning agreements

EE: Can any member apply for the health and safety course?SP: No, the training is exclusively for our appointed health and safety reps for two reasons:

● the legal entitlement to paid time off for the course is limited to appointed health and safety reps so we don’t want to expose non-reps to the risk of disciplinary action

● we need to be confident that applicants are genuinely committed to health and safety rep activity. Our resources don’t stretch to “taster” courses for those who wish to dabble. However

any member interested, yet uncertain about the role, shouldn’t hesitate to ask. Their branch or section reps should be able to advise, they could look online at bit.ly/Safetyrep or they can get in touch via safetyreps@prospect.org.ukEE: Do you offer branch-specific training?SP: Yes, I’ve worked with several branches, tailoring a course to their needs, most recently National

Grid. Members will know they’ve undergone significant change. Renewing our health and safety rep capacity has been a priority.

In January I will work with Western Power Distribution, an organisation shaken by a fatality last year. So we need to help restore the company’s health and safety confidence.EE: How does branch training differ?SP: It’s shorter, more intensive and deals specifically with branch priorities so that a health and safety action plan is developed. We also invite company representation, so that we can hear first-hand how the employer “makes and maintains the arrangements for health and safety cooperation”, as required by The Health and Safety at Work Act.

Their involvement typically renews a shared commitment to working together to promote health and safety. It helps us get results!EE: What should branch do if it would like a branch health and safety course?SP: They need to ask their full-time negotiator, setting out their reasons and objectives. Depending on the merits and branch priorities, the officer will apply to Prospect’s learning services department and set the ball rolling.

Keep up to date with Prospect

From three-day national courses to branch-specific training

Engineering or Science councils. The union’s project is titled

“Prospect RegTech –Raising the status of Prospect technicians”. It aims to train 20 EngTech advisors; map 10 workplaces to establish the types of engineers and potential need for advice; and work with two employers to develop and pilot learning agreements.

■ Lloyd will work three days a week (Wed-Fri) from January and can be contacted via lloyd.collier@prospect.org.uk

MARK TH

OM

AS