Swift action saves watering hole

By Chris Churchouse, Director of Training, Fire Risk Management Ltd

The Background to the Qualifications

The BTEC Professional Certificate and Professional Diploma in Petroleum Regulation have been developed to provide a medium for the in-depth study of the principles and practice of petroleum regulatory procedures and petroleum risk management.

Introduced in September 2002 by Fire Risk Management Ltd., an approved centre to offer Edexcel qualifications, the syllabus was drawn up by former senior petroleum officers in consultation with a number of leading regulatory authorities, including the Environment Agency.

Due to the high profile of the issue of competence, an increasing number of regulatory authorities throughout the UK and Northern Ireland are adopting the BTEC qualifications as a means of training their petroleum officers as they provide a nationally recognised yardstick for the measurement of the student's knowledge and understanding.

The qualifications do not require students to provide evidence of an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject matter. Rather, emphasis is placed on enabling them to acquire the ability and confidence to carry out their duties as petroleum officers stemming from:

· the capacity to research, assemble and present information relating to all aspects of petroleum regulation in a cogent, methodical manner

· a secure knowledge of the law relating to petroleum regulation and the scope and limitations of their powers

· adherence to enforcement procedures based upon the best practice of HSC guidelines

· the application of sound principles of risk management · the ability to keep abreast of regulatory and technical developments

Qualification is not by examination but by continuous assessment and a pass must be obtained in every unit of the syllabus.

In order to achieve the standard required to pass each unit the student must be able to demonstrate an ability to carry out predetermined tasks or fulfil certain criteria in the completion of assignments. These "assessment requirements" are laid down in the syllabus, together with the unit content and prescribed set reading. Guidance notes provide both direction and information relating to the study of each unit.

The Structure of the Qualifications

BTEC qualifications are modular in form, consisting of a number of units of learning. Each unit is accorded a nominal number of hours that the candidate might reasonably be expected to take to complete the necessary study, including the preparation of assignments. The total number of study hours accorded to a qualification determines whether it is an Award (30 to 90 hours), Certificate (120 to 180 hours) or Diploma ( 240 to 360 hours).

The level of BTEC qualifications range from Introductory or Entry level, to level 5, Advanced Professional. The Professional Certificate and Diploma are level 4 qualifications.

The Diploma consists of two parts as follows:

Part 1: (Professional Certificate)

Unit 1: Petroleum Legislation

Unit 2: Enforcement Procedures

Unit 3: Risk Management

Unit 4: Inspection and Monitoring

Part 2:

Unit 5: Site Construction Unit 6: Road Tanker Deliveries

Unit 7: Safety Procedures Unit 8: Petroleum and the Environment

Unit 9: Investigative Study in Petroleum Safety

It will be seen from the above that Part 1 of the Diploma is a qualification in its own right, namely the Professional Certificate. Candidates successfully completing Part 1 are awarded the Professional Certificate and then may elect to take Part 2 in order to complete the Diploma.

The Units which comprise Part 1 (Professional Certificate) are regarded as being core essentials for the role of the Petroleum Officer, hence the value of Part 1 as an individual qualification. Great emphasis is placed on the HSC Section 18 Guidance to Local Authorities as being best practice. In addition, guidance is given on report writing and students are required to consider layout and presentation when submitting their assignments.

The assignments associated with Part 2 differ from those in Part 1 in that students are required to carry out their own in-depth research to produce technical papers, presentations and surveys. The purpose is to prepare the student for a senior position in petroleum regulation, which may include participation on technical and regulatory working parties, as well as validating suitability for a training role. Successful Diploma students may also be approached to become assessors for the qualifications.

Study and Assessment

Candidates for the qualifications undertake an open learning course with full back-up being provided by the FRM training team.

Most candidates submit type-written scripts and there is facility for the submission of assignments by e-mail, subject to the observance of procedures approved by Edexcel.

Following the assessment of the assignments the candidate receives a progress report by e-mail incorporating the assessor's comments. Where an assignment fails to achieve pass standard it is referred back to the candidate with reasons for the referral. The candidate is then able to revise or remodel the assignment which is then resubmitted.

FRM is able to report that the overall standard of work submitted is of high merit. Students who initially feared that they were disadvantaged by not having an academic background or who had not taken any form of qualification for many years have proved to be amongst the most competent.

Many assignments which have been submitted are of such high calibre that they are worthy to be regarded as reference works in their own right. In addition, much of the research work carried out by candidates engaged in Part 2 of the Diploma has proved to be revelatory and incisive. (All assignments remain the copyright and intellectual property of the student).

In keeping with the requirements of Edexcel, the timescale for the completion of each part of the Diploma is one year from receipt of the assignments. In practice, the time taken to obtain the qualifications depends largely on the degree of application on the part of the student. Acandidate recently completed Part 1 (Professional Certificate) in just under three months, all assignments being of a very high standard. In general terms, candidates benefit from the momentum of adhering to a selfgenerated schedule and timescale.

Candidates report that they find the course work challenging in its attention to detail, but that they enjoy the stimulus of gaining a qualification which enhances their professional status and approach to work in the field.

Further details regarding the qualifications may be obtained from Fire Risk Management Ltd. Tel: 01494 532113 E-mail: info@fireriskman.co.uk www.fireriskman.co.uk

Eastern Eastern Branch meeting and AGM 17th March 2005

The APEAEastern Branch meeting and AGM took place at the George Hotel, Huntingdon on March 17th 2005. An election of branch posts took place and voted on (notice for nominations advised to members in notice dated February 2005). The following individuals were duly elected and welcomed to serve for a further year. The accounts were submitted to the members attending and approved as true and correct and duly approved. The auditor was reappointed.

Chairman Brian Baker Milton Keynes County Council

Secretary & Treasurer Anton Martiniussen ELAFLEX Ltd

Branch Representative Ian Taylor Hytek Ltd

Auditor Mike Alston - Essex County Council

Events Committee:

Paris Johnston Liquid Cargo Management

Paul Craven Suffolk Trading Standards

Jamie Thompson

The following speakers came and gave excellent presentations on interesting subjects. Helen Fazakerley of OCEANS ESU talked on designing of reed bed drainage systems, as a means of cleaning up industrial waste. BPhas introduced a number of these on their service stations and bigger systems are also used in the country of Sudan

Richard Coates. BP Group Fire Adviser Talked on Mobile phones a fire risk on forecourts? a presentation vis-àvis fires on forecourts in the USAand presumed association with mobile phones.

Nick Payne Mercury Petroleum Systems -, Nick gave an overview of the Torex Group who he works for and the recent acquisition of Flexiline. He talked about Torex's leak detection system, Probe 4tech which measures by weight.

Bob Townsend of Magic-cote talked about his product when applied onto the

forecourt surface prevents ingress of liquids. This as well as being easy to apply has a particularly long service life as well.

We are grateful to the speakers for giving up their time to coming to give their presentation and thank them for this. The next meeting is planned for September 2005 once the schools return. Watch this space for updates. We are planning to meet at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Park, Near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Its just a few miles off the A1 so easy to get to. This is a museum as well as engineering work shop for vintage aircraft, cars and motorcycles. We hope to visit the engineering workshop as well as looking at the fuelling facility.

At the branch meeting it was agreed that future meetings would be on a workshop basis. We have yet to decide on future topics. Please let me have suggestions or details of interesting events you may have been involved in that could be shared during a future meeting.

The APEA provides a forum for debate as well as sharing of experience and knowledge. We in the Eastern Branch aim to uphold the founding principles of the association. All members are encouraged to participate in branch meetings. It is understandable that sometimes it might be difficult to find the time because of job pressures or other commitments. We believe that the branch offers exceptional good value both in money terms and knowledge, so do come along.

It was suggested by members that future events should take place on a workshop basis with the aim on providing some recognition that participation have taken place. This is a good suggestion which has been adopted and more news on this will follow.

The Branch is always looking for members to make themselves available to participate in its activities. If you are interested do let me know.

It also looks good on your CV!

Early confirmation that you will be attending the Eastern Branch workshop at Shuttleworth in Hertfordshire in September would be much appreciated other branch members are welcome to join in. Just email me now your interest.

Charles Marshal of Pumptronics and Trevor Mason of Purfleet

Jean Finken and Audrey Hazelton

Anton Martiniussen Branch Secretary APEAEastern Branch c/o ELAFLEX LTD Hoddesdon Herts EN11 0PA

Mobile 07831 595 620 Office 01992 452 950 Fax 01992 452 911 www.elaflex.co.uk

Southern

At the 2005 AGM the following members were elected to serve the branch. Geoffrey Wheeler (chairman) Robbie Robson (vice chairman) David Sommers (secretary) Simon White (treasurer) Phil Monger (branch representative on Council) Steve Foley, Paul Reyner, Barry Jenner. (Committee members)

Ray Blake & Martin Window were elected as auditors. 2004-5 was a good one for the branch in that we achieved our target of 4 branch meetings in the year, at the same time we managed to cover our area geographically very well.

A very successful event was the meeting held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton. The combination of the good speakers, the excellent show and the museum made for a very enjoyable day.

In October the branch met at the Grasshopper at Westerham. The members enjoyed a good meeting with a superb sit down meal.

Our last event of the 04-05 year was an experiment in running the January meeting in conjunction with BEN at their home in Ascot. The meeting enabled us to make a substantial donation to BEN by using their excellent facilities without incurring the branch in any extra costs over using a more commercial venue.

The AGM was held at on the 19th April 2005 at Tormarton near to Badminton in South Gloucestershire. The meeting was well attended and members enjoyed three excellent presentations. Phil Monger of the PRA and Barry Jenner of Cameron Forecourt jointly spoke on the legal impact of DSEAR on retail site operation and the impact DSEAR should have on routine site maintenance. Martin McTague of eGas Station Europe provided a very informative presentation on the possibilities provided by Enhanced Wetstock Reconciliation and Jaginder Singh Mudhar of Drivestop practically demonstrated the Drivestop Security Stinger and explained it's use in combating forecourt drive-offs.

At the present time we are planning a special summer meeting for the 13th July involving the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar at Portsmouth this summer. Watch this space!

David Sommers Southern Branch Secretary

North West

As usual the format of the NW Branch meetings was a morning meeting concluding with lunch and an opportunity to network. The Branch AGM and Technical meeting, held on 17th March in Skelmersdale, Lancashire was well attended.

Bob Conlin opened the meeting by welcoming everybody on behalf of the branch. Bob reported that Mel Churm, Cameron Forecourts Ltd has retired from his position as Branch Chairman and expressed the committee's thanks to Mel for his contribution to the branch over the many years that he has been making the trip from one side of the Pennines to the other.

The minutes of the previous AGM were accepted without matters arising and the meeting progressed to the Officers' reports.

Bob Conlin presented his Branch Secretary's report, highlighting the continuing success of the technical sessions held within the branch over 2004, and looking forward to an informative session to follow the AGM.

Steve Jones presented his Branch Treasurer's reported and stated that the branch was keeping it's head above water, but that the capitation fees paid from National Council were scarcely enough to cover the venue costs and administration overheads. He felt confident, however, that should there be the need for any extraordinary expenditure National Council would look favourably on such a request. The financial statement was accepted by those present.

The meeting proceeded to the Election of Officers with Steve Devine of Roncol Ltd being voted in as Mel Churn's successor as Branch Chairman. Bob Conlin of Fairbanks Environmental Ltd continues as Secretary and Steve Jones of Fairbanks Environmental Ltd continues as Treasurer. Joanne Bradley of the Environment Agency was re-elected Committee Member and David Sutch of Geodelft was elected as a new Committee Member. The Branch representative is, once again, Geoff Oldham of Suresite Ltd.

An interesting technical session followed the AGM.

Scotland

The Scottish Branch held the annual general meeting on 14th April. As last year this was at the same venue on the same day as the Scottish Forecourt Roadshow. A healthy number of members enjoyed a visit to the exhibition to see innovations in equipment, services and marketing which they can sometimes only read about in the Bulletin.

Reports were received from the Chair, Secretary and Branch Rep. Gareth highlighted his first year as Chair particularly how he enjoyed the post, our visit to the Compex facilities at Falkirk College and the future developments in the retail sector. Ian provided a summary of his branch activities and the important issues raised nationally. Membership issues were highlighted by Ian and Peter Lennon who will be writing to all branch members with details of their membership as there appears to be some confusion.

The formal business of the day provided a committee very similar to the one from the year before. Gareth Bourhill is Chair with Peter Lennon as Secretary. As last year the Treasurer duties will be split between these posts. Both Alan Hamilton and George MacNeill agreed to continue as committee members. The committee encouraged other members to consider becoming a committee member to enable more input and opinion at committee meetings. Ian Hillier continues his involvement as Branch Representative and David Shaw was appointed again as auditor.

There were two presentations at the meeting and the theme was underground storage. Paul Brooks of Corrpro Companies gave a very interesting presentation on cathodic protection. This effective method of corrosion protection is little used in Scotland and the benefits of such a system were of great interest to the meeting. Mareike Feast of Fairbanks Environmental presented a shortened version of the wetstock management course run for the association. This was much appreciated by the meeting and hopefully will encourage some to enrol for the full day course.

The meeting ended with a buffet lunch.

Peter Lennon Branch Secretary

Yorkshire & Humberside Nothing to report at present

Midlands Nothing to report at present

North East Nothing to report at present

Branch Representative Contact Details

Ian Taylor - Eastern Hytek (GB) Ltd, Delta House, Green Street, Elsenham, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM22 6DS Tel: 01279 815600 Fax: 01279 812978 iantaylor@hytekgb.com

Tom Hocking - Midlands D Berry & Co (PFS) Ltd Unit 130 Middlemore Ind Estate Kentish Road Birmingham B21 0AY Tel: 0121 558 4411 Fax: 0121 555 5546 enquiries@dberryandco.co.uk

Mike Silmon - North East W O Silmon Ltd Industry Road, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear. NE6 5XB. Tel: 0191 224 0777 Geoff Oldham - North West Suresite Ltd, Slaters Barn, Whittingham Lane, Goosnargh, Preston. PR3 2JJ Tel: 01772 861400 Fax: 01772 861600 geoff.oldham@suresite.co.uk

Ian Hillier - Scottish Inverclyde Council Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock PA15 1LY Tel: 01475 717171 Fax: 01475 712747 ian.hiller@inverclyde.gov.uk

Philip Monger - Southern Petrol Retailers Association Meadowside, West End, Sherbourne St John, Basingstoke, Hants. RG24 9LE.

Tel: 01256 850164 Fax: 01256 851273 philmongerpra@ukonline.co.uk

TBC - Yorkshire & Humberside

Training