Briefing Paper from EEMUA August 2013 EEMUA CompEx - the world s pre-eminent IEC Ex scheme for personnel competency development and certification Summary Potentially flammable or explosive atmospheres occur in a wide range of industrial sectors from oil & gas to chemicals, food, drink and pharmaceuticals manufacture, mining, waste water treatment and others, as well as in the retail sector such as fuel filling stations. Failure to ensure safe working practices in these circumstances could result in the ignition of explosive gases or dust clouds leading to injury or even fatalities. Based upon the IEC Standards, primarily 60079: 10; 14 & 17, and UKAS accredited to ISO 17024, EEMUA CompEx is the global solution for Competency Validation and Certification for electrotechnical, mechanical and multi-skilled technicians as well as professional engineers working in potentially hazardous or explosive atmospheres. Key elements of the CompEx scheme are: Based upon the IEC Standards, primarily 60079: 10; 14 & 17. Determines Core Competency by checking both the underpinning knowledge by examination and practical skills and ability by assessment. Over 40,000 CompEx Certificates of Core Competency issued since 1994. UKAS accredited to ISO 17024. Unrivalled breadth and depth: 12 distinct CompEx Units including Electrical, Mechanical, and Application Design Engineer. Worldwide over 25 CompEx Licensed Centres including Europe, Asia and Americas. Delivered in English and Dutch. Taking into account local Regulations, Directives and national variations in Standards. CompEx Scheme Governance secures impartiality by representation from major International Users in the Oil, Gas and Chemical industry; Employers; Contractors; Unions; Regulators; the Certification Body and others.
Introduction to EEMUA CompEx Further to the July 1988 Piper Alpha Offshore disaster in the North Sea, the investigation report led by Lord Cullen, recommended that employers ensure the Competency of Personnel for all workers that they employ. In the UK, the Electricity at Work Regulations (1989) made this a mandatory requirement and increased the standards necessary to ensure the competency of personnel, thereby increasing workplace safety in potentially hazardous environments. These new legal requirements brought about the need to provide a competency scheme that would both assess the underpinning knowledge (theory) and the competency validation (practical assessment) of individuals under one scheme and the associated Core Competency Certificate that would be obtained by successful practitioners. As a result, the Engineering Equipment and Material Users' Association (EEMUA) and JTL, the UK's leading work based learning provider, worked together with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Electrical Contractors Association (ECA), to successfully launch the CompEx competency validation initiative in 1993, in London and Glasgow. Significantly, CompEx competency is certificated only to individuals who: Meet the necessary entry criteria for the CompEx modules. Pass the underpinning knowledge theory examinations. Pass the competency validation test in the form of a practical assessment. 1994 saw the birth of the first CompEx Centre at Aberdeen College in Aberdeen, Scotland. There is now an international network of licensed CompEx centres that provide CompEx training and assessment leading to core competency validation certification across the globe, from Aberdeen down to Sasolburg, South Africa and from Houston across to Singapore. No matter where you are in the world, there is always a CompEx centre within reach. Since its inception, over 40,000 CompEx Certificates of Core Competency have been issued, all contributing to increased safety awareness in the workplace. This achievement underlines the position of CompEx as by far the world s most important international Ex personnel certification scheme. The EEMUA CompEx personnel competency scheme CompEx is the global solution for Competency Validation and Certification for electrotechnical, mechanical and multi-skilled craftpersons as well as professional engineers working in potentially hazardous or explosive atmospheres. The IEC International Standards primarily 60079-10; 14 & 17 are at the heart of all CompEx delivery to ensure international conformity and harmonisation of safe working practices. The CompEx scheme also reflects established national and regional legislation and regulation such as the EU-ATEX Directives. In addition, CompEx is operated by a Certification Body JTL, which is formally accredited by UKAS in accordance with the International Standard ISO/IEC 17024:2003 Conformity Assessment General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons.
A CompEx module includes all training and assessments and upon success, candidates receive a CompEx Certificate of Core Competency. Each certificate is valid up to a period of five years, depending on the changes to International, European and British Standards. The CompEx Scheme Governance secures impartiality by representation from major International Users in the Oil, Gas and Chemical industry; Employers; Contractors; Unions; Regulators; the Certification Body and others. CompEx is an integral part of a global solution for the competence route to safety as can be seen in Figure 1 below. Source: EEMUA. Figure 1. The role of CompEx in the global competency route to safety. Figure 1 illustrates the relationship between the various elements in the global competency route to safety. Broadly speaking, these are: Users Group (such as EEMUA) participation in development and interpretation of Directives (e.g. ATEX) and standards (e.g. IEC Ex Standards). Product safety & quality addressed by testing and certification. Equipment installation, inspection and maintenance CompEx Certification for Electrical, Mechanical and Multi-skilled operatives. Workplace area / systems design and management CompEx certification for professional engineers.
Unrivalled breadth and depth with CompEx The 12 modules of competency validation that are defined within CompEx produce an IEC Ex scheme of unrivalled breadth and depth, allowing certification for a wide range of personnel and situations: Electrical, mechanical and multi-skilled craftspeople. Professional engineers responsible for the design and installation of applications and systems for hazardous Ex areas. Managers who oversee the operation of these installations. Specially tailored modules for specific sectors: fuel filling stations; the water and wastewater industries; flour mills, coal and other dusty environments besides the oil and gas industry, offshore and onshore, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Please see Appendix I for a full list of CompEx Modules. International and multi-lingual delivery CompEx is now delivered via a growing number of Licensed Competency Validation Centres around the world: from Africa and the Middle-East, to America, Asia, Australasia and Europe, see Figure 2 below. CompEx is currently delivered in English and Dutch with other languages planned. Discussions are currently underway to investigate how the CompEx global solution to safety can best be operated in other parts of the world that do not follow IEC Standards. Figure 2. Locations of existing and planned CompEx Licensed Centres. Source: EEMUA. Please see Appendix II for a full list of CompEx Licensed Competency Validation Centres. Guaranteed to be most effective CompEx is most effective because it combines formal learning and knowledge examination with practical assessment to determine overall core competency. The effectiveness of CompEx is also assured by being owned and overseen by user companies who have a vested interest in ensuring safety in the workplace
Appendix I The CompEx Modules CompEx Modules for Competency Certification ExF Foundation Unit Ex01-02 Ex03-04 Ex05-06 Ex07-08 Ex09-10 Ex11 Ex12 The preparation, installation, maintenance and inspection of Ex d, n, e and p apparatus in potentially explosive atmospheres The preparation, installation, maintenance and inspection of Ex i systems in potentially explosive atmospheres The preparation, installation, maintenance and inspection of electrical apparatus for use in the presence of combustible dusts The preparation, installation, de-commissioning, inspection, testing and maintenance of electrical installations at fuel filling stations The preparation, installation, maintenance and inspection of Ex d, n, e, p and i apparatus in potentially explosive atmospheres within the water industry The preparation, installation, maintenance and inspection of mechanical apparatus in potentially explosive atmospheres The design, management and approval of applications and systems for hazardous areas
Appendix II Licensed CompEx Competency Validation Centres International Licensed CompEx Centres Name of Centre TTE-Petrofac ProtEx Ltd (Mobile) Quercus Technical Services BV STC (Service & Technology Centre Petrotec) ATEC MOXI PTE Ltd ATTS - Asia (Assets Training & Technical Services PTE Ltd) Hazloc (Intertek) Intertek Ltd ATEC Training & Certification Services OCS Training Institute Location Baku, Azerbaijan Egypt & Tunisia Goes & Zwolle, Netherlands Doha, Qatar Singapore Singapore Sasolburg, South Africa Dubai, UAE & USA Houston, Texas Houston, Texas UK Licensed CompEx Centres Name of Centre ASET EPIT Group Ltd Prospects Training Solutions Ltd NETA Training Group Intertek TTE Training Ltd Forth Valley College HOTA Lowestoft College Roxby Training Solutions Ltd TTE Technical Training Group Hornbill Industrial Training Hornbill / Pembrokeshire College Seta Ltd P & R Hurt Location Aberdeen Aberdeen Basildon Billingham Chester & Grangemouth Ellesmere Port Falkirk Hull Lowestoft Middlesbrough Middlesbrough Neath Pembrokeshire Southampton Yeovil
For enquiries, contact John Lilley, Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation and Control Topic Lead, EEMUA Email: john.lilley@eemua.org or +444 (0)20 72644 0019 Notes EEMUA - Leadership in Industrial Asset Management EEMUA, the Engineering Equipment and Materials Users' Association, is an international non-profit membership organisation that aims to improve the safety, environmental and operating performance of industrial facilities in the most cost-effective way, developing and promoting leadership in industrial asset management. Member companies manage process plants, refineries, power stations and utilities, offshore platforms, storagee terminals and other industrial facilities around the world (engineering assets worth billions of Euros). EEMUA members pursue p their aims by sharing engineeringg experiences and expertise, and by the promotion of their distinct interests as the users of engineering products. CompEx is a registered trademark and egistered certification mark of EEMUA. CompEx scheme website: http://www.compex.org.uk Copyright EEMUA, 2013. WORK SAFELY IN 2012-2013 EEMUA is an official partner p of the EU-OSHA Workplaces Campaignn on Risk Prevention