Have your say on new IET code of practice on engineering competence

The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) new Code of Practice: Competence Criteria for Safety-Related Systems Practitioners has been redrafted following a major revision. Now, a technical working group will be consulting with a wider international stakeholder group to ensure that the document is of maximum value to diverse industries from different countries that develop, maintain and operate safety critical systems.

Carl Sandom, lead technical author, said: "Human factors are widely recognised as a frequent cause of safety-critical systems hazards and the new document aims to address this important issue along with many other significant changes from the original document.”

The completed Code of Practice will aim to help companies assess and maintain the competence of their engineering staff. It will set out the competencies expected and evidence required to prove competence in specific tasks and helps organisations create schemes for monitoring and measuring the competencies of its employees.

"Globalisation often leads to the use of sub-systems and components from different countries within safety-related systems architectures; this has resulted in a global requirement for competent people. The new code of practice aims to have broad global appeal to multiple industries. It is why we are inviting industry stakeholders of different nationalities to get involved in the wider consultation of this work”, says Sandom.

The new Code of Practice will be of interest to any industry where safety-critical systems are in use and will be aimed at those responsible for safety and competency in any organisation including, functional safety managers, safety engineers, chief engineers, senior safety & HR personnel, and operational managers.

The consultation is open until the end of September.