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 a local control system. Assessment of this unit should demonstrate competence on actual plant and equipment in a work environment. 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 assessment of parts of this unit. Simulation should be based on the actual process control system and will include walk-throughs of the relevant competency components. Simulations may also include the use of case studies/scenarios, role plays and 3D virtual reality interactive systems.

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 responses. The emphasis should be on the ability to stay out of trouble rather than on recovery from a disaster.

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

early warning signs of equipment/processes needing attention or with potential problems are recognised

the range of possible causes can be identified and analysed and the most likely cause determined

appropriate action is taken to ensure a timely return to full performance

obvious problems in related plant areas are recognised and an appropriate contribution made to their solution.

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.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

Assessment will require access to a process control system 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 and communication units. Consider co-assessment with appropriate operations competencies for the unit of plant.

In a major hazard facility, it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with:

MSAOHS200A Work safely

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.

This describes the essential skills and knowledge and their level, required for this unit.

Required skills

Competence includes the ability to distinguish between causes of problems/alarms/fault indications such as:

instrument failure/malfunction

electrical failure/malfunction

mechanical failure/malfunction

equipment design deficiencies

product parameters (temperature, flows, pressure and levels).

An ability to communicate with other work groups and personnel during the operation and monitoring of this equipment is considered an essential element of this unit of competency.

Required knowledge

Competence includes an understanding of underpinning knowledge. Demonstration of competence in this unit must include knowledge of:

all items on a schematic of the controller and the function of each

principles of operation and location of the process/production equipment

specific plant process operations

product specifications and tolerances

systems operating parameters

basis of control for the process

emergency shutdown procedures

process specific physics, chemistry and mathematics

process drawings, eg P&ID, PFD, cause and effect

instrumentation and control systems, eg relevant primary sensing devices, final control elements, transducers/transmitters

simple control loops, including PID control, set points, controlled variable, indicated variable

effective communication techniques.

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 unit of competency includes all such items of equipment and unit operations, which form part of the production/processing system. For your local control system this may include (select relevant items):

plant items requiring only simple control

programmable logic controllers (PLCs)

hard wired control and alarm panels

analogue control systems

personal computers

printers

fire and gas detection/protection systems

emergency shutdown systems

communications systems.

Typical problems for your plant may include:

variation/loss of feed

unstable control of pressure, temperature level and flows

control equipment failure

process plant trips

change in atmospheric conditions (rain, temperature, wind, lightning)

emergency situations

loss of power/utilities.

Appropriate action

Appropriate action includes:

determining problems needing action

determining possible fault causes

rectifying problem using appropriate solution within area of responsibility

following through items initiated until final resolution has occurred

reporting problems outside area of responsibility to designated person.

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.