The Federation of Piling Specialists recently (early March 2018) held its first meeting of its Learning and Development working group.

Whilst there is still much to be done, its first step was to establish which roles the geotechnical industry employs at present and what training is provided across the industry to enable progression to each role.

As a team the working group has now listed the many roles, effectively from gateman to rig operator to senior designer to contracts manager, and the group’s next step will be to define key competencies required to fulfil these roles.

From these competencies a survey questionnaire will be sent to all FPS members in order to investigate:

• What training is delivered per competence?
• Who delivers the training and who trains the trainer?
• Is it formal training or ad hoc in house?
• Vocational, academic?
• Is there a qualification at the end?
• How many are being trained to these levels?
• Does this training help recruitment and retention?
• Does it help safety and quality?

The working group will follow up with supplementary questions regarding the next stage i.e. the future. For example, it will seek to examine which roles are conceivably affected by future automation or digital developments and in what way, as well as which roles are currently struggling to recruit for or retain at present.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the aims of the working group or would like to contribute, please contact fps@fps.org.uk