Digital Authorisation and Competency Passport for the Utilities Workforce

EUSR and Reference Point work in partnership on SkillGuard for Utilities, which gives asset owners and their supply chain real-time verification of the workforce’s authority and competence to work

SkillGuard for Utilities is a sector-wide database which holds all necessary training information about site workers, confirming quickly, easily, and in real-time, their authority to work.

The system has a wide range of features which reduce costly and time-consuming duplication of training and data entry.

It’s easy and quick to check that the direct or indirect workforce are ready to work safely with the appropriate authority.

The system behind SkillGuard for Utilities, provided by Reference Point, is the same system already used by Thames Water for their Safety Passport, as well as Network Rail Sentinel, Highways Passport and Tarmac OneCard.

Employers and other authorised third parties populate the system with information to confirm an individual’s authority to work including qualifications, permits to work, licences, training records as well as EUSR registrations, which can be trusted as they are all verified.

The reporting function in SkillGuard for Utilities can be used to provide workers’ details, at any site, at any time, by region, or role type. If there is an incident, it’s quick and easy to see who was on site at the time.

Each worker has their own up-to-date record, moving with them as they work across various locations.

It is easily accessed by them, their employer, or a Site Card Checker, via the database or by scanning a virtual or physical smart card via a secure app.

Records can also be checked centrally in advance of workers arriving on site.

Thames Water have been using the system for over ten years, and their feedback has been invaluable in informing development and updates.

Gareth Mullen, Head of Health, Safety & Wellbeing from Thames Water stated:

“One of our biggest challenges is ensuring that each one of our thousands of contractors who work across different sites and different employers have the right competencies, and that those competencies are up to date.

“We value EUSR schemes because we know the training and assessments meet employers’ needs and can be trusted, so we can let people on-site with confidence.

“With SkillGuard for Utilities, we can pre-check everyone ahead of arriving on site, and we can also spot check anyone at any time, which is especially useful in the event of an incident.”

To find out more about SkillGuard for Utilities, visit our SkillsGuard for Utilities page or contact EUSR directly at talktous@euskills.co.uk.