As you can imagine, there are many definitions on the meaning of evidence, but we won’t bore you here with a long encyclopaedic answer!
In this instance, we – MTCS (UK) Ltd – are talking about the information you are providing in support of your competence, and ensuring this is both true and correct.
First of all, you need evidence to confirm you are competent in safety critical, operational and where applicable, technical activities.
You’re probably thinking, so what particular information are we referring to? Well, typically information in this context includes:
- Observation records, which is someone observing you carrying out an activity (your skill level is also being checked).
- Answering questions, which is an assessment of your knowledge.
- Making or fixing something.
- Supporting written evidence – a report perhaps.
- Witness statements completed by a reliable witness.
- Appraisals completed by Supervisors and Managers.
- Log book pages and Survival and Medical certificates.
- Feedback from your Assessor
- Photographs
- Videos
- And, yes, even your CV!
Just to make it that little bit easier for you, MTCS documentation packs can assist you in collecting evidence.
Evidence can be both good and not so good; where good evidence will confirm your competence and the latter will unfortunately, mean the opposite. However, even in the case of ‘not so good’ evidence, this is always something you can work on to eventually provide good evidence.
We classify evidence as ‘Primary’, which is the best type, and then ‘Secondary’ evidence, which will support your primary evidence. This leads us on to what is the best type of Primary and here your Observation records are really the best type, with a well-written report being good Secondary evidence.
Your assessor will make a judgment on your evidence collected at the worksite, and will then offer you feedback, letting you know if the evidence is insufficient. For example, you may need more training to boost your skills and knowledge.
MTCS will verify the evidence collected and assessed over a range of offshore projects and if the evidence and assessment process is satisfactory, we will be pleased to award you with an MTCS Certificate of Competence.
Finally, it’s always good to know there’s someone on hand to ask questions, particularly if there’s something you’re not sure about.
Should you have any questions about your evidence, you will be relieved to know MTCS have a dedicated team who will respond to your queries. We are happy to accept calls to our UK office where you will speak directly with our friendly certification support team.
We hope this information has been helpful.
Look out for our next Insight article where we will be talking about your Portfolio, which is where all your Evidence is collected.
If you have any specific questions relating to this article, please contact me, Richard Warburton, MD at MTCS (UK) Ltd, at richard@mtcs.info