How are the staff expected to maintain they're own compeptence? If these are 'Safety Critical' competencies and the staff are expected to maintain they're own competence, isn't there a risk of your employer falling fowl of section 9 as well?

Are the employees unoinised by any chance?

Can't help but feel depressed by this. Sorry, Firestar, but I can't think of anything positive to say.

Firestar, I can see nothing wrong in having a situation where an individual is responsible for ensuring that they attain and maintain a level of competence to do the job for which they are paid. That, in itself, does not mean that the employer has transferred all responsibility to the individual employee, it means that the employers arrangements require the co-operation of employees in this regard. Your post doesn't tell us what resources are available to employees or what the identified action plan might contain. If for example it says "attend xx session at xx on xx to achieve a pass on manual handling" and that is all part of the provision then where is the issue? Employee is responsible for ensuring that they attend and achieve. I have worked within just such a system for years, it enables me to manage my on-going competences. I have to get it right, make sure I stay up to date and not just rely upon my employer to manage it for me. The follow up action planning that you mention is also very common, it is the way that my employer ensures that they have maintained a competent trained workforce. If on the other hand you are actually saying that the employer is not providing any resource for employees to undertake the required learning then that is different. I find if difficult to imagine from this distance that the employer is saying this. It may be worthwhile just checking? P48

The training for the competence is not the issue it is the process of achieving this that is. An example, one of the team fails to meet the standard for operating the appliance properly this is a ‘safety critical’ performance objective. The person then must ensure that they obtain the necessary training to resolve this; the action plan only identifies the area of concern by putting in the word unsatisfactory next to the number of the performance objective, there is no written statement on how the individual is to achieve this. This is only recording on the individuals training log and it his responsibility to correct this. To do this he has to arrange with the line manager to use the appliance which will also involve part of the team as it is impossible and unsafe to do this on your own. If fails to get the support to rectify this then it is his fault and could lead to his dismissal. It would be his word against the managers. Honestly, the more I write on this the worse it looks. A little help to save any confusion, I work under contract for a company so am not LA but still have to meet the same standards and training requirements. It is for providing a service to the MoD.

There is no argument about the level of competency and it is necessary to maintain this. The action plan is flawed, if you want an individual to pick up on their performance then you have to give them the necessary training, instruction and resources to do this. The managers do not want to do this because it takes commitment hence why they have put the onus onto the individual. I’m a qualified Breathing Apparatus instructor if I have a weak student I don’t just dismiss them; I work with them identifying the area of weakness and encourage them to overcome this, structuring the training to achieve this. As a line manager, in the past, I have had employees under my command who have been poor in some areas but worked the training programme and made time to help them. In the pass I have had my failures and have had to admit defeat but it wasn’t due to not trying, some people just could not make the grade. Now my company wants them to do this on their own with no or very little support from the management? If you use and action plan make it an effective one as otherwise it is not a plan at all.

Thanks, shame but the senior manager had only just started to talk to me again after the first time;-)

A way of getting rid of the dead wood? Funny but your not the first to say this

Just to say thank you for all the replies it helped me to come up with a strategy that has resulted in a positive outcome. The management aren’t only talking to me but now seeking my advice and it’s Friday;-) Best regards