Elements and Performance Criteria

RANGE STATEMENT
The Range Statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the Performance Criteria, is detailed below. Add any essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, needs if the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts.
Codes of practice/ standards
Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, the latest version must be used.
Context
This competency would be applied by those persons who as a normal part of the work responsibilities and duties act as members of an emergency response team on an onshore or offshore facility.
The person undertaking this competency must be able to work alone and also within an environment which requires a high level of teamwork and interpersonal communication. A person undertaking this unit of competency should be able to respond to directives given either by emergency team leaders or other team members in order to contain and control the emergency.
This unit could be applied to any of the following installations or facilities:
onshore/offshore rig/installation
island based facility
floating production platform
onshore production, processing and/or storage facilities
pipeline easements
maintenance bases.
Equipment may include:
fire extinguishing agents and water curtains
hoses
mobile extinguishers
stretchers
personal protective clothing and equipment such as:
chemical protective clothing
distress alarms
structural fire protective clothing
self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
communication equipment.
Fire extinguishing media may include:
water
foam
extinguishing powder
gaseous extinguishing agents
vapourising liquids
other fire extinguishing substances.
On-scene hazards may include:
smoke, darkness and heat
electricity
gas
structural hazards
structural collapse
industrial - machinery, equipment, product
hazardous products and materials
unauthorised personnel.
Firefighting strategies and tactics may include:
direct attack
indirect attack
combination attack
exposure protection
internal/offensive attacks
confining the spread of fire
rescuing occupants
cooling the fuels
removal of fuels
interrupting the chemical chain reaction
exclusion of oxygen.
Health, safety and environment (HSE)
All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment requirements, which may be imposed through State or Federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between Performance Criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence.

EVIDENCE GUIDE
The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the Performance Criteria, Required Skills and Knowledge, the Range Statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment
Assessment for this unit of competency will be on an operating plant. The unit will be assessed in as holistic a manner as is practical and may be integrated with the assessment of other relevant units of competency. Assessment will occur over a range of situations which will include disruptions to normal, smooth operation.
Simulation may be required to allow for timely assessment of parts of this unit of competency. Simulation should be based on the actual plant and will include walk-throughs of the relevant competency components. Simulations may also include the use of case studies/scenarios and role plays.
This unit of competency requires a significant body of knowledge which will be assessed through questioning and the use of what-if scenarios both on the plant (during demonstration of normal operations and walk-throughs of abnormal operations) and off the plant.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Competence must be demonstrated in the ability to recognise and analyse potential situations requiring action and then in implementing appropriate corrective action. The emphasis should be on the ability to minimise the effects of the critical situation.
Consistent performance should be demonstrated. In particular look for evidence of:
ability to work effectively in a team
recognition of fire behaviour
impact of fire fighting tactics
conducting fire fighting operations in accordance with the organisation's safe work practices
These aspects may be best assessed using a range of scenarios/case studies/what-ifs as the stimulus with a walk-through forming part of the response. These assessment activities should include a range of problems, including new, unusual and extreme situations which may have been generated from the past incident history of the plant, incidents on similar plants around the world, hazard analysis activities (eg HAZOP) and similar sources.

Context of and specific resources for assessment
Assessment will require access to an operating plant over an extended period of time, or a suitable method of gathering evidence of operating ability over a range of situations. A bank of scenarios/case studies/what-ifs will be required as will a bank of questions which will be used to probe the reasoning behind the observable actions.

Method of assessment
In all plants it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant teamwork, OHS and communication units.

Guidance information for assessment
Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate and appropriate to the oracy, language and literacy capacity of the assessee and the work being performed.