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European Explosives sector implementation of occupational standards
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2017 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Project activities are related to the need of up-skilling the workforce in the European explosives sector and to ensure that the companies and stakeholders in the sector will maintain or develop their competitiveness to ensure the survival on the global market, prevent job losses and maintain a safe industry. Project goals will comply with the Horizon 2020 targets to ensure that skills and qualifications can be more easily recognized, within and across national borders, as the project will focus on one specific sector on the European market, the explosives sector. The restructuring of the industry, in general, have led to many changes, such as lower job growth and skills drain due to workers retirement. It has brought specific changes to the explosives sector related to education and training, where most training previously was organized as in-house training, now it is mainly provided by external education and training institutions. These providers need incentives to adapt their supply to better match industry demands, by the means of collaboration around education and training with industry partners. The project aims therefore to develop support structures dedicated for education and training initiatives targeted for the industry. The target is twofold, 1. Implement selected key-roles from the occupational standards, specifically developed for the explosives sector in Europe, in five industry partner organisations in UK, Estonia, and Portugal, Sweden and Germany and 2. To develop easy to use and easy to understand tutorial materials, such as a step-by step guidance material for process management and a handbook of good practice. The project will be managed to lead five case studies at plant level, where the implementation process will be conducted in three phases. Each phase will develop learning outcomes that can be built into a tool for managing implementation processes. The three phases are 1. Initiation of the process, identification of key roles for implementation and setting up a time plan. Phase 2 is to implement the selected key roles and standards in the company’s HR-routines and processes. Phase 3 is to disseminate results and to evaluate the learning outcomes and document good practice. The implementation process will be monitored and evaluated during the whole period in order to develop experience and knowledge for the intellectual outputs. The project team will develop two intellectual outputs during the project period, number 1 is the Step-by-step guidance materials for implementing occupational standards and number 2 is the Handbook which includes a revised form of the step-by-step guidance to include good practice. The project group is set up by five partners representing organisations that worked together in previous EU-funded projects. These organisations represent Technical universities and education and training institutions, and they are all active in the European explosives sector. In order to ensure high quality in the implementation process the project activities need to build on the experience that has been previously developed in other EU-funded projects by the project partners. In the new project the experts representing education and training will lead change processes at plant level and manage implementation processes in collaboration with company managers. The partner’s previous knowledge and experience from working with occupational standards is essential for reaching project goals. Five partners are new to the project team, these organisations represent industry partners from five different nations. They have been selected and invited by national partners, based on their area of business and on the company manager’s interest to participate in the project with the ambition to change their practice. All partners are members in a variation of European networks and they are specialists and experts in their field. The project aims to change the mindsets of company managers, HR-staff and stakeholder, to approach more proactive measures when implementing HR-routines and support structures in order to access demand led education and training. The purpose is to show how the use of occupational standards, developed for the European explosives sector, can aid the companies in their ambition to find new practices to sustain workers competencies and skills and continue to provide safe work environments. By emphasizing how the occupational standards can be used as a tool for managing and supporting competence development and up-skilling processes at plant level company managers and HR-staff can develop knowledge, experience and skills of how to communicate their training and skills demands to VET-providers and FE- and HE-institutions. The project aims to disseminate the use of occupational standards to other stakeholders, to promote a change in legislation. This to address the need for regulating that basic and or initial training is linked to ensuring safe jobs.

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