Supervisor Competence

The competence of the supervisors working within an organization is of critical importance to efficient and effective supervision. Organizations need to clearly define what competencies are required for each supervisory role, develop training and assessment programs to ensure that supervisors develop and maintain these competencies, and develop approaches for dealing with instances in which supervisor 

---

Identify supervisor competencies. Managers should have a very clear understanding of what competencies (KS As) are required for the supervisory role in question. 

An effective NDE program rehes heavily on periodic certification of the competence of its personnel (13,14). Certification programs designate levels of competence for all levels of personnel. Level I technicians are able to carry out instmctions in an NDE Level III supervisors are qualified to evaluate the needs of the test and devise a scheme that assures the desired level of quaUty or safety. 

A supervisor has to make sure that the staff are well trained and competent. 

Case Example A 29-year-old woman presented for consultation on referral from a psychiatrist who had seen her in psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy for approximately 10 years. The primary difficulty was intermittent interpersonal strife with fellow workers and supervisors. Thus, although quite competent, she had switched positions frequently because of these difficulties. Her history indicated that she had never experienced a full depressive, hypomanic, or manic episode, but that these problems seemed to coincide with intermittent periods of irritability. As a result, she was placed on a trial of lithium, with therapeutic blood levels. Within several weeks of treatment initiation, her difficulties with fellow coworkers and supervisors ceased, and during 1 year of follow-up, she did not have a recurrence of these problems. 

Note In student design projects, the aim is to produce a competent design and also to communicate to the supervisor what has been done. It is therefore essential to include a summary of the major findings obtained by performing the HAZOP study (this is usually only performed on one... 

Photo Products assigned three chemists, to work under Bill Hardam, a former Dylux Venture supervisor, to see where they could take the Dylux-4C chemistry, which I had developed, over a 3-month spell. I was never invited to any meetings, only a written report and samples were requested. After 3 months, the Photo Products Department decided that the four-color Dylux program would not lead to a product that could compete with the Cromacheck peel-apart program, which they were pursuing with more enthusiasm, and that was the end of colored Dylux. 

Kletz s article also presented the 1976 procedures utilized by Imperial Chemicals Industries, Ltd. (ICI) Wilton, England. It stated that within the Petrochemicals Division of ICI, any modification, even if it is very inexpensive, or temporary, must be authorized in writing by a competent manager (or, in the United States, a second line supervisor) and an engineer. [6]... 

Presence of objectives related to enhancing process safety competence in each manager s, supervisor s, and technical staff member s personal performance plans, and in the trend over time X... 

Ambitious chemists may note that fipcos do not lightly give supervisory responsibility to newly graduated and hired employees, if they do so at all. To demonstrate competence, attain some success, and thereby create a need for help, Ph.D. chemists can work alone several years after starting their careers. Policy, which varies across the industry, determines this period as well as the necessary qualifications and the number of chemists reporting to a newly appointed supervisor. 

Assurance of competent staff begins by preparing position descriptions that specify the educational requirements, operational experience, and duties of the laboratory personnel. The qualifications of the supervisors, analysts, and instrument operators who are hired must match these descriptions. Each staff position should have a set of core training specifications (e.g., radiation safety, chemical safety, waste minimization and disposal, quality assurance) plus specific training in its area of responsibility. Table 13.3 provides suggested position titles, educational requirements, and general responsibilities for the optimal laboratory staff. 

When you are replacing a SME, this competency is frequently already included in the job description, making the gap analysis fairly straightforward. In many instances, this SME role may not have a reporting relationship to the safety department although the role is critical to process safety. In these instances, the change should be authorized by the immediate supervisor with input... 

Jinli Qiao is a professor, PhD supervisor, and scientific core-competency leader at Donghua University, China. She earned her PhD in electrochemistry from Yamaguchi University, Japan, in 2004 before joining the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, as a research scientist. From 2004 to 2008, Dr. Qiao carried out seven fuel cell projects including two NEDO projects in Japan on the development of novel proton-conducting membranes, new binders for membrane electrode assembly (MEA)... 

ENCOURAGE—Companies should encourage the attainment of diversity by all managers, supervisors, and employees, and structure their business practices and reward systems to reinforce those corporate objectives. Link pay and performance not only for technical competencies, but also for how employees interact, support, and respect each other. 

The client has specific duties under the CDM Regulations, one of which is to appoint a planning supervisor and a principal contractor. The client must be reasonably satisfied with the competence of these appointees and with the adequacy of resources allocated by the appointees to perform their duties. The client must provide health and safety information about the project, not permit construction work to start until an adequate construction health and safety plan is available, and hold the health and safety file and make it available to others. The client must also issue a notification of the project using Form FIO. 

The IMCA operate a scheme for the certification of offshore diving supervisors. While this is an internationally recognised qualification, the environment and work conditions offshore are very different to those found on inland/inshore work sites, it is not necessarily appropriate for offshore diving supervisors to automatically be considered as competent for all inland/inshore diving operations. 

---