The Council has over 100 staff engaged in Street Cleansing, Refuse Collection and Civic Amenity Sites.

The Project

The Council decided in 2004 to give all operational staff in Street Cleansing, Refuse Collection and Civic Amenity Sites the opportunity to work towards an appropriate NVQ in Waste Management.

Derry City Council chose Edutrain International as its competence assessment provider to implement this programme. The Council was particularly attracted to Edutrain’s unique project delivery method which ensured that all candidates could work for their NVQ at their own pace with no ‘down time’ for the Department.

A pilot project commenced in 2005 with 18 NVQ candidates enrolling to do either Waste Management Operations Level 1 or Level 2. The choice of the appropriate NVQ was decided by the individual candidate’s experience and job role.

The Assessor-candidates had no previous NVQ assessment experience but with Edutrain’s support they quickly developed into a strong assessment team sharing best practice assessment techniques.

All 18 candidates successfully completed their NVQ in Waste Management Operations and the experienced assessment team is now looking forward to Phase 2 of the Project, which will provide the opportunity for another similar group of candidates to prove their competence through vocational assessment.

Positive Outcomes for the Council

Staff have said they are a lot more confident in their job which has increased personal effectiveness and self esteem.

They are more enthusiastic and motivation has improved.

They are able to plan tasks much better resulting in an overall improvement in efficiency and enhanced job satisfaction.

Staff take more pride in their work.

They have more interest in their job and a sense of purpose.

Staff are more health and safety conscious.

There is much more flexibility in the workforce which is a great help to the Department.

Team work has greatly improved.

It provided the Council with an ideal opportunity to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to employee development needs and is an ideal platform for Investors in People.

What Derry City Council had to say:

‘The partnering approach to competence assessment with Edutrain has worked extremely well for the Council. The candidates have felt at ease with their assessor and were delighted that they were able to obtain a nationally recognised qualification whilst performing their normal day to day job’

‘The candidate assessment materials provided by Edutrain facilitated a standardised approach by the assessment team and the candidates now have a professional portfolio of evidence which clearly demonstrates their high level of competence’

‘NVQs are now the established way forward for the Council to reward candidates for their commitment to their job. We look forward to all our operational staff having the opportunity to complete their relevant NVQ in subsequent phases of the project and to extending competence assessment to other areas within the Council’ - Briege Meenan, Training Officer