Working in Britain’s utilities

The utilities include oil and gas, water, electricity and, to some extent at least, telecommunications. This article will consider employment and training for individuals working at the customer end of the business. This is a sector in which much of the work is contracted out by the major organisations to a number of smaller companies, which in turn subcontract the work to local firms. Much of the work, therefore, is available locally and is not advertised nationally. Increasingly, utilities companies are merging or being acquired so that an organisation supplies more than one utility or the utility is combined with other operations. Some are foreign-owned.

In oil and gas, 360,000 people work in 6,000 UK companies. It must be distributed to users; storage and delivery systems must be built and maintained; and appliances require installation and servicing. Oil is pumped to refineries, separated into different grades, and then transported by pipeline and tankers to power stations, factories, petrol stations and private houses. Gas comes through six beach terminals, and then a 160,000-mile pipeline system that delivers it to either a commercial or a private customer.

A total of 26 water companies in England and Wales provide both water supply and wastewater treatment services, with 45,000 employees. More than 100,000 people are employed directly or indirectly in the industry. Some 200 firms specialising in technical water supply and wastewater services work in the UK market, employing about 20,000 people. There is one water and wastewater treatment authority in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland.

Electrical engineers deal with power generation and power supply; they also connect building networks to mains supplies. Many traditional roles have changed, with removal of a faulty component and installation of a new one the norm. However, electricians work on all manner of buildings, in construction, renovation and maintenance; while the whole field of power generation raises political and environmental issues that are hotly debated.

Telecoms include the infrastructure necessary to run a Local or Wide Area Network, and links between the two. They may provide business services, telephones, television, and much more besides, being used to transmit voice, fax, data, graphics or any combination of these. The most common carriers of fixed telecoms are cables. These are made from both copper and fibre-optics, with the older, copper, being cheaper and more common.

Utilities and the Services

There is little direct relationship between the utilities and the Armed Forces. Nevertheless, many of the skills required and valued by employers are taught and practised by a number of people in the Services. Generalist skills, such as supervisory management, project management and administration, are wanted as are all manner of specialists. Some specific Service skills or trades include:

• fuel specialists

• people trained in fuel technology

• water engineers (Army Royal Engineers and some RN engineers)

• electrical engineers (again Royal Engineers trained in power generation and distribution and RN electrical engineers)

• telecoms and cabling specialists from signals and electrical engineering branches.

Some people will have specialised in telecoms as part of a career.

The Career Transition Partnership offers resettlement training courses in some disciplines useful for the utilities at Aldershot and also through its suppliers. Individuals should talk with people working in the area to establish a reasonable starting point based on their skills and experience, and then look for the right courses and training.

Working in the utilities

Working onshore in oil and gas encompasses a wide range of activities. Scientists and technicians work to produce improved fuels and more efficient energy, while engineers and construction workers build and maintain the plant and pipelines. Transporting bulk fuels by road demands specialist transport, licences and safety qualifications. Liquid fuels are commonly sold to the consumer at petrol stations, which are increasingly becoming shops as well. Jobs in gas include laying mains supplies, plumbing, and appliance installation, inspection and maintenance.

Water industry employment tends to be through functional or regional offices with vacancies advertised locally. The industry generally is experiencing recruitment difficulties and skill gaps. There has been recent growth in sub-contracting, with concern over employer investment in skills as a result. There has also been a drive towards multi-utility contractors and operations among the big providers, with such functions as gas, electricity and water, and even cable services being provided by just one company.

In the electrical engineering industry, projects are contracted and then sub-contracted to many different entities. Most people start as an electrician’s mate or work for a contractor for a minimum of two years to gain experience. All contractors must inspect and test their own work, and they may also inspect and test other electrical work. Experience leads to bigger and better jobs, while academic and vocational qualifications make it possible for the individual to develop and move up the career ladder.

Telecoms employment involves qualifications, experience, networking, work placements, the right CV, and going for the right job. Permanent employment is often regarded as three to five years, and people commonly change employer every two years or so. In-house training meets specific company objectives; individuals use employers to enhance their own personal development, and good people can achieve rapid promotion.

Training and development

Cogent is the Sector Skills Council for the oil and gas extraction, chemicals manufacturing and petroleum industries. It has developed NVQs/SVQs in:

• safety services – oil and gas extraction

• processing operations

• well services

• engineering maintenance

• offshore drilling operations

• retail and forecourt operations.

It has also introduced a Contractor Passport Scheme into the retail sector to improve the awareness of Health & Safety rules for working on forecourts and generally at service stations.

Energy & Utility Skills Limited, the new Sector Skills Council for Electricity and Renewables, Gas, Waste Management and Water, is developing a set of occupational standards and qualifications for people involved in main laying and service laying. It is hoped that the qualifications that result will be as common as possible across the industries concerned to offer workers maximum freedom of employment. The water industry qualification framework is being developed. There are current skills gaps and a comparatively low take-up of qualifications to date. Old standards and qualifications are changing and new ones are being developed as the national training organisations that covered this area disappear and Energy & Utility Skills takes over.

The Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance (SEMTA) is the newly formed Sector Skills Council for the engineering field. It has a series of NVQs, as well as additional qualifications in other disciplines. For electrical and electronic servicing these are available at Levels 2 and 3. For electrical engineering, the basic requirement is 16th Edition Wiring Regulations. This shows that the individual knows the necessary regulations and how to use them. The course and exam can be taken in a one-week course at the Resettlement Training Centre, which leads to the award of a City & Guilds 2380 qualification. The next step is the Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installation City & Guilds 2391 qualification, obtained through a one-week RTC course.

Anyone working on gas appliances or fittings as a business must be competent and registered with the Council of Registered Gas Installers (CORGI). Competency can be proved under the Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS). CORGI provides a route to ACS through a distance learning programme. ACS has a two-day core domestic gas safety assessment and a number of appliance assessments that take half a day each.

In telecoms, people can gain qualifications through their employment and personal development while they are serving in the Forces. This will primarily be about the theory necessary to use equipment, its actual use, and how to pass on that knowledge to others. The academic background and the principles of certain equipment use will be highly relevant in future telecoms careers.

NVQs based on industry standards developed by e-skills UK are available, but some are not well known by employers. Some major vendors have produced their own qualifications, while other bodies are marketing a suite of exams.