Elements and Performance Criteria

This unit of competency includes all such items of equipment and unit operations which form part of a discrete blending/mixing system.

For your plant this may include (select relevant items):
pumps (lubrication and cooling pumps)
utilities and services
heat exchangers (intercoolers)
vibration monitoring
other equipment integral to the operation of the compressor system.

Typical problems for your plant may include:
equipment malfunction
material handling such as equipment failure, blockages, and so on
material property variation
blend/ mix tolerance
uniform dispersion of minor ingredients/additives
blending/mixing to special requirements/colour
mixing sequence
matching mixes produced with production requirements
monitoring and adjusting process conditions
recognising and acting on potential and actual problems
quality problems including customer requirements.

OHS
All operations are subject to stringent OHS requirements and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and OHS requirements, the OHS requirements take precedence.

Assessment context and methods
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 (eg, elements 1 to 5). 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
It is essential that the equipment be understood and that the importance of critical material properties, settings and readings is known. Competence must be demonstrated in the ability to recognise and analyse potential situations requiring action and then in implementing appropriate corrective action.

Consistent performance should be demonstrated. In particular look to see that:

hazards are identified and controlled
blend/mix properties are kept within limits
quality is monitored to minimise wastage
process measurements/observations are continually made
all OHS requirements are followed
problems are anticipated and appropriate action is taken (ie, problem fixed or reported).
Competence must be demonstrated in the operation of all ancillary equipment to the level required for this competency unit.
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 improbable situations which may have been generated from the past incident history of the plant, incidents on similar plants around the world, hazard analysis activities and similar sources.

Resource implications
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.

Other assessment advice
In all plants it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant teamwork and communication units.

It may be appropriate to assess this unit in conjunction with:

PMCSUP272A Identify and act upon hazards in the workplace
PMCSUP170B Shift materials safely.
If manual handling forms part of this job then regulatory obligations will require competency in PMCSUP170A also.
Individual enterprises may choose to add prerequisites and corequisites relevant to their processes.

Essential knowledge
Knowledge and understanding of the equipment and product quality to customer specifications sufficient to recognise process conditions which will lead to out of specification production.
Knowledge of the enterprise's standard procedures and work instructions and relevant regulatory requirements along with the ability to implement them within appropriate time constraints and in a manner relevant to the operation of the equipment.

Competence includes the ability to:


apply and describe:

hazards associated with the process
application of the hierarchy of control in controlling the hazards
selection, use and maintenance of relevant PPE
material handling requirements
principles of blending/mixing these products
impact of variations in materials on final product
impact of blending/mixing on final product
impact of variations in product specification of the blending/mixing process
properties of the mix
equipment limitations and impact on blending/mixing efficiency and effectiveness
enterprise production schedules

distinguish between causes of faults such as:

material
equipment
blending/mixing time/technique
as is relevant to the practical operation of the equipment.

Communicating ideas and information
(1)

Collecting analysing and organising information
(1)

Planning and organising activities
(1)

Working with others and in teams
(1)

Using mathematical ideas and techniques
(1)

Solving problems
(2)

Using technology
(1)