Hundreds of BP employees to study bespoke NEBOSH qualifications
Thursday, 9 May 2019
BP, one of the world’s largest energy providers, has chosen to partner with NEBOSH in the development of two new bespoke qualifications for its employees.
The NEBOSH Certificate in BP RCA for Skillful Investigators and the NEBOSH Diploma in BP RCA for Master Investigators were launched in Houston on 8 May. Learners, instructors and Tom Meldrum, BP Director of Investigations and Learning, were amongst those in attendance to get a first look at the new qualifications.
BP has a small team of full-time investigators; the introduction of these new qualifications will upskill other employees.
It is envisaged that hundreds of people, from a range of other functions, will be qualified to complement the work of the investigation and health and safety teams over the coming years. They could be called upon at any time and their new skills will help them deepen their analysis and get to the underlying cause of any incident.
The Certificate and Diploma – both accredited at Level 11 – were developed from BP’s existing training course. They provide learners with the practical skills they need to investigate incidents in a complex environment.
Matt Powell-Howard, NEBOSH Head of Strategy, has been closely involved in the development of the qualifications and attended the Houston launch. He said: “As we all know, the oil and gas industry can be a complex and challenging one. Together we’ve developed something that will give people the skills to not only investigate when things go wrong, but learn from these incidents, share knowledge – within both BP and the wider industry – and put in place measures to stop them happening again. At the end of the day, it’s all about protecting people and our environment from harm - these qualifications will make a significant contribution to this goal.”
Roger Schulp, BP Lead Investigator, added: “Over the past year we have worked with NEBOSH to have our training and competency program accredited by an external body, NEBOSH was the right route to take given its high standards and internationally renowned qualifications. We are delighted that our programs have been accredited at Level 11 which will enable us to build on what we have already achieved.”
Pictured at the launched (L-R) are Benjamin Hooper Harris (BP Lead Investigator/ Lead for training), Matt Powell-Howard, Tom Meldrum (BP Director Investigations and Learning) and Ed Gniadek (BP Lead Investigator)