Review of Fire and Rescue Services qualifications

FIELD COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

Review of Fire and Rescue Services qualifications

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Basic Responder) (Level 2) [Ref: 1167]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Advanced Responder) (Level 3) [Ref: 1168]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Incident Controller) (Level 4) [Ref: 1169]

The Fire and Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation (FRSITO) has completed the review of the qualifications listed above.

Date new versions published April 2008

The next qualification review is planned to take place during 2012.

Summary of review and consultation process

The reason for the review was that emergency response personnel at industrial sites around the country were often unable to demonstrate the advanced emergency service and other knowledge and skills required to achieve all the outcomes in the compulsory section of the entry level qualification. Because of the prerequisite structure of the qualifications it meant that if emergency response staff (who might work in either a full time or voluntary capacity) could not complete one of the qualifications because of the less comprehensive range of skills required at some sites then they were unable to progress onto further qualifications.

The latest versions of these qualifications were designed to address this issue by aligning the compulsory sections with the skill set that candidates could reasonably be expected to achieve at any site irrespective of their status as either full time or voluntary; and to take account of the unit standard prerequisite requirements.

FRSITO convened an advisory group comprising full time and voluntary emergency response staff from industrial sites around the country. This group reviewed the content of the qualifications and FRSITO then distributed the revised draft documents for wider general stakeholder consultation.

Main changes resulting from the review

The three qualifications now had an independent rather than an overlapping structure. The compulsory sections in lower level qualification were designed to meet required competencies as appropriate but also to meet the prerequisite requirements of individual standards in more advanced qualifications. This meant that credit totals more truly reflect the required competencies without the covert compliance aspects of a hidden prerequisite structure at the individual standard level.

The Fire and Rescue Services awards have a complex prerequisite structure at both the standard and qualification levels. Although increases to compulsory requirements might appear to be increasingly prescriptive, the new structure was designed to incorporate prerequisite requirements.

The removal of the descriptors in the new titles now better reflect the nature of the work that full time and/or voluntary staff actually do. The previous descriptors in the replaced qualifications were basic, advanced and incident controller.

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Basic Responder) (Level 2) [Ref: 1167]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response) (Level 2) [Ref: 1370]

Review category

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

Summary of differences between qualifications:

· a decrease in the required credit total from 50 to 46;

· a decrease in compulsory credits from 44 to 27;

· the inclusion of an elective section;

· standards 16801 and 17279 were moved from the compulsory section to the elective section;

· standards 497, 3309, 4573, 4647, 6400-6402, 10616, 16801, 17279 were retained from the replaced qualification (standards 3062, 14470, 14471, 14473, 17600, 18426, 20645 were removed);

· standards 3270, 3271, 3278, 3283 and 10614 were added to the compulsory section, and standards 3267, 3272, 3275 and 16800 were added to the elective section; and

· the elimination of the term 'basic responder' from the title.

Transition

People currently working towards the replaced qualification may either complete the requirements for that qualification or transfer their results to this qualification. The last date for people to complete version 1 of the replaced qualification is 31 December 2010.

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Advanced Responder) (Level 3) [Ref: 1168]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response) (Level 3) [Ref: 1371]

Review category

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

Summary of differences between qualifications:

· the title was changed to better reflect the nature of the work and to further distinguish from the associated level 4 qualification [Ref: 1372];

· a decrease in the required credit total from 50 to 45;

· a decrease in compulsory credits from 33 to 25;

· the elimination of the term 'advanced responder' from the title;

· standards 16933, 20385, 20387 and 22445 were added to the compulsory section;

· standards 3312 and 10618 were retained from the replaced qualification (standards 3270, 3271, 3283, 14560, 16800, 17599, 18516 and 20536 were removed);

· a single elective set based on a selection of standards was included.

Transition

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response - Incident Controller) (Level 4) [Ref: 1169]

National Certificate in Fire and Rescue Services (Industrial Emergency Response) (Level 4) [Ref: 1372]

Review category

See Key to Qualification Review Categories at the end of report

Summary of differences between qualifications:

· a decrease in the required credit total from 80 to 40;

· a decrease in compulsory credits from 46 to 33;

· standard 16803 was retained from the replaced qualification (standards 16804-16809, and 17280 were removed);

· standards 3281, 3315, 3321, 14898, 16934, 23407 were added to the compulsory section;

· the elimination of the term 'incident controller' from the title; and

· the elimination of the elective sections A and B and their replacement with a single elective set.

Transition

It is not intended that anyone be disadvantaged by this review. People who wish to seek advice or feel disadvantaged by the transition arrangements are advised to contact FRSITO at the address below.

Fire and Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation

PO Box 11 988

WELLINGTON

Telephone 04 801 9469

Fax 04 801 9476

Email info@frsito.org.nz

Key to Qualification Review Categories

Category A The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID	Changes are made to SSB name, contact details or purpose statement
	No change is made to title, rules or components of the qualification
	No transition arrangements are required
Category B The qualification is published as a new version with the same NQF ID	Changes are made to title, rules or components
	The new version of the qualification recognises a similar skill set to that recognised by the previous version
	The SSB is confident that people awarded the new or previous version are comparable in terms of competence
	Transition arrangements are required if candidates must gain additional/different credits for the new version
Category C A new (replacement) qualification is published with new NQF ID	Significant changes are made to the qualification in terms of components, structure, type or level
	The SSB views people with the replacement qualification as being significantly different in terms of competence from those with the replaced qualification
	Transition arrangements are required
	Transition may be limited to phase-out dates
Category D Qualification will expire. There is no replacement qualification	Qualification is no longer required by industry
	The qualification is designated as expiring and a last date for meeting the qualification requirements is set