Skills eFlash #87
Date: 06-May-2020
1. Draft Certificate IV qualification available for review
The Water Industry Operations and Treatment Review Technical Advisory Committee has reviewed the Certificate IV in Water Industry Operations and Certificate IV in Water Industry Treatment qualifications and associated Units of Competency. The TAC has combined the two qualifications into the Certificate IV in Water Industry Operations, with draft training package materials now available for your feedback.
You can view the draft materials at: https://www.australianindustrystandards.org.au/projects/nwp-water-industry-operations-and-treatment-review/
Feedback is due by COB Tuesday, 2 June 2020, either directly via the online feedback form or to Carlie Sargent at csargent@qldwater.com.au.
2.Proposed foundation skills water operations micro-credentials
qldwater is submitting an application for funding from the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training to support development of a set of foundation skills water operations micro-credentials. The funding is being made available as part of the Department’s ‘Micro-credentialing Pilots Program’ and is aimed at subsidising the cost of providing focused training for new or transitioning employees in specific skills to improve productivity.
The proposed water industry micro-credentials are an initial response to potential workforce impacts from COVID-19 and are designed to provide an overview of basic water operations tasks with three possible streams – water treatment, wastewater treatment and networks. It is envisaged they could be used to skill up staff from other parts of a council or utility to provide back up support in the event of operational shortages, with close supervision from an experienced operator. In the longer term, the micro-credentials will also provide an option for delivering basic training for new trainees or for educating managers who need an understanding of water and sewerage operations.
qldwater has been working with a number of RTOs to develop a range of delivery options and feedback has been provided by the Water Skills Partnership into the design of the micro-credentials. A range of delivery options have been proposed ranging in price from $750 to $3,500 depending on how much face to face delivery is required and we are seeking funding support of 50% from DESBT.
We will keep members informed of the progress of our application but if you have any queries in the meantime please don’t hesitate to contact Carlie Sargent at csargent@qldwater.com.au.
3.Extension of time to nominate for Operator Awards
With the cancellation of WIOA conferences due to COVID-19, the qldwater sponsored Operator Awards will not be announced as usual at the annual WIOA Queensland conference. We are working with WIOA to determine when and how award winners will be announced and I’ll keep you updated as plans are finalised. In light of these changes we are extending the closing date for nominations for the Young Operator of the Year and Operator of the Year (Civil/All-Rounder) until the end of May.
More information and nomination forms are available at: https://www.qldwater.com.au/qldwaterAwards. Please contact Carlie Sargent at csargent@qldwater.com.au with any questions or to submit your nomination(s).
4.COVID-19 Update
There has been a significant amount of activity supporting qldwater members and Water Skills Partners in preparing for and responding to the impacts of COVID-19. Details of previous and current efforts are available on a dedicated COVID-19 page on qldwater’s website. The page includes details of recent advocacy efforts to key regulators on behalf of members and provides details of companies who have indicated they may be able to provide support including remote mentoring, relief operations and other technical advice.
qldwater is delivering weekly webinars to discuss current issues and for members to share details of their COVID-19 preparations and other presentations that would otherwise have been delivered at qldwater events that have been postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Recordings of these webinars are available to members and Water Skills Partners in the COVID-19 Zoho Forum: .
If you weren’t able to join us for the Water Skills Forum back in early March, you’ll be able to hear one of the most popular presentations from that event at an upcoming weekly webinar on Thursday 21 May. Water Skills Partners have asked Troy Pettiford, TRG Chair and COO of Whitsunday Water, to deliver his presentation about his career journey and share his tips for moving from ‘tools to team’. Contact Carlie at csargent@qldwater.com.au to be added to the invitation list.
Following requests from members we are also looking at offering a series of webinars for operational staff with an industry expert providing a short training session on common treatment or networks task. Our plan is to offer a trial session in June and will then consider future webinars and frequency from there.
If you have any workforce issues you’d like assistance with, please don’t hesitate to contact Carlie Sargent on csargent@qldwater.com.au or Dave Cameron on dcameron@qldwater.com.au.