National Grid Gas
Safe Control of Operations eLearning and Assessment
The challenge
National Grid needed an eLearning course to ‘refresh’ staff on Gas Safe Control of Operations (SCO) procedures, plus an assessment tailored to their authorisation level, which could collate certification data for analysis and issue SCO1 & 2, SCO4 and SCO5 certificates.
Field engineers are required formally to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of SCO procedures. This equips them with their ‘SCO Certification’, effectively, the licence to perform their job. The traditional method of assessment used a manually completed, multiple choice quiz taken at an assessment centre, accompanied by an instructor-led review of the SCO procedures.
National Grid sought a more cost-effective and efficient method to:
- Train staff on the SCO procedures which have changed
- Assess their knowledge of SCO procedures
- Deliver assessments for multiple authorisation levels
- Issue SCO certificates (compulsory every 5 years)
- Automate and centralise collection of certification data for analysis
The assessments were to be held at centres across the UK, under the control of facilitators.
Our solution
A password-protected, ‘free access’ web-based eLearning course and a highly versatile ASP.NET back-end administration system and database controlling user login and registration, identity validation, randomised quiz questions, results storage and certificate generation.
The system TNA Ltd created has three major components:
1. A password-protected ‘free access’ web-based eLearning course which personnel work through in their own time, before attending the assessment centre. Produced in Adobe Flash, the course uses animations, interactions and imagery to engage the learner. TNA hosts this course on its server and access is password-protected. There are no marked quizzes and user progress is not recorded.
2. A set of on-line assessment tests, discussed below under ‘Measuring knowledge retention and understanding’
3. A highly versatile ASP.NET back-end administration system and database, resident on the TNA server and controlling user login and registration, identity validation, selection of quiz questions, storage of assessment results, and the generation of a .pdf pass certificate or revision list for unsuccessful candidates. For National Grid employees, the system imports their payroll number and name in .csv file format from the company’s SAP HR system to ensure accuracy.
Once they have completed their assessment, their results are written back in a batch to a .csv file for importing back into the HR system to update their records. The system limits the number of times the assessment can be taken before the individual is referred for re-training. The back-end system also provides a wide range of Admin and Super Admin controls for managing users and information including running reports and producing Information management (IM) data.
“TNA have been a pleasure to work with. They are thorough and professional in their approach to quality.” – Glynn Barber, Training Delivery Manager (Gas) Learning & Development
Measuring understanding
This comprised a set of on-line assessment tests which are completed at an assessment centre, run by National Grid. Each SCO procedure has a large pool of questions from which smaller sets are selected at random.
Personnel are issued with a password which automatically expires at the end of the day. This is used to log in, enter their payroll or ID number and select their authorisation level. They then select the specific SCO categories they are to sit.
The number of times an individual may take the assessment before being referred for re-training is limited. In addition, certain questions on safety-critical procedures must be answered correctly in order to reach a ‘pass’, even if all other questions were answered correctly.
Who is it for?
System requirements
Assessments were to be accessed from PCs at assessment centres. A back-end ASP.NET system was to control login, question selection, certificate generation and performance logging. In addition, an Offline version was required in the event that the internet service should become unavailable at assessment centres.