12 / 36
12
5.0 SPECIFYING COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS
• Previous experience and its relevance to the
specific duties to be performed and the
technology being employed. The greater the
required competence levels, the closer the fit
should be between competencies developed
from previous experience and those required
for the specific duties to be undertaken.
A competence database, in existence at the
organization, and used to record the technical
capabilities of personnel was used as the basis
for personnel selection. That is, the responsible
Project Manager consults the database when
assigning resources to a safety-related project,
to ensure that candidates have the necessary
experience and qualifications appropriate to the
application area and technology, as well as
knowledge of the legal and safety regulatory
framework. The classification of the level of
competence achieved, with respect to specific
competence, is as follows:
Level 1:
Has experience of the system safety platform in
an implementation capacity and / or has
attended appropriate training courses. This is
the minimum level required for the relevant
activities of the implementers and testers of the
system.
Level 2:
Has experience and training to the level of
specifying/designing solutions for the
systems platform. This is the minimum level
required for the relevant activities of the
designers of the system.
Level 3:
A recognised expert in his/her application of the
systems platform, demonstrated through
appropriate combination of experience,
application and training. This is the minimum
level required for the relevant activities of the
reviewers of the system.
A set of supplementary guidelines assists
those undertaking the assessment of an
individual in order to produce an assessment
profile and the level of competence achieved.
This information was subsequently recorded in
the competence database.
The supplementary guidelines cover such
areas as:
• Engineering knowledge appropriate to the
industry domain
• Safety system knowledge applicable to the
application and technology
• Principles of Functional Safety Assurance
• Specifying, witnessing & performing tests
• Transposing safety requirements to design
• Analysing design and code (in terms of
software and hardware architecture and
including various forms of definition notation)
Completion of the assessment of competence
not only facilitates the mapping of the
individual’s competence to the specific project
tasks and activities they are required to perform
but also identifies those areas where mentoring
and supervision is required and any additional
training necessary.