Work in an efficient and effective way in the utilities

Overview

This Standard is about working in an efficient and effective way in the utilities sector.  

It includes carrying out your work to agreed standards, following procedures and processes, 
managing your time, communicating with and helping others, knowing about the industry and 
organisation and understanding your place in the operations and how your role can affect 
others.  

This standard is for anyone who works in the utilities sector.

Performance criteria 

You must be able to: 

1. use appropriate sources to identify the information you need to carry 
   out your work  
2. check with appropriate people when any information related to your 
   work appears incorrect  
3. agree any deviations in standards or specification with appropriate 
   people before carrying out work
4. organise your own work and your work with other people to make 
   effective use of time and comply with agreed schedules  
5. carry out work in accordance with approved procedures and practice 
   and statutory requirements  
6. follow instructions and suggestions from relevant people to adapt 
   working methods or improve work outputs 
7. carry out work to agreed standards, checking compliance of 
   completed work when appropriate 
8. carry out all work activities for which you are responsible, when 
   working individually or as part of a team  
9. communicate information about progress, issues encountered and 
   actions taken that will be useful to colleagues at appropriate times  
10. respond to queries from other people that are related to work in a 
    constructive way and at appropriate times  
11. store, use and maintain work materials and equipment in 
    accordance with work requirements and approved procedures and 
    practices  
12. record information and data required for your work in organisational 
    recording systems in accordance with operational and organisational 
    procedures  
13. remove and dispose of waste and surplus materials in accordance 
    with approved procedures and practices  
14. keep up to date with developments in the industry and their 
    implications on own work on an ongoing basis 
15. report any situations which require additional intervention and 
    problems or conditions which are outside your responsibility to 
    appropriate people 
16. identify and suggest improvements to work methods to appropriate 
    people at appropriate times

Knowledge and understanding 

You need to know and understand:   

1. legislation relevant to your work relating to your work and the 
   workplace environment  
2. industry and organisational procedures, practices and operational 
   standards relating to your work and the workplace environment 
3. the remit of your organisation and how the work of your organisation 
   fits into the industry as a whole 
4. organisational structure and reporting lines  
5. the responsibilities and boundaries of your role and how completion 
   or non-completion of your work can affect colleagues, customers 
   and the organisation  
6. the image of the organisation and how your behaviour at work can 
   impact on that image  
7. the information you need about work requirements including 
   specifications, work methods, time frames and relevant standards or 
   quality control methods  
8. how to interpret plans, schedules and work programmes relevant to 
   your work  
9. the processes and sequence of events for work activity and post
   work activity to achieve intended job outcomes
10. time management techniques 
11.  how to work as part of a team, who you need to work with and when  
12.  communication methods and organisational communication 
    procedures for communicating with colleagues, customers and 
    managers 
13. when additional intervention is required to deal with problems or 
    conditions outside your responsibility and who to refer them to 
14. the characteristics and physical properties of the materials used in 
    your work including how they will be affected by weather conditions, 
    how they will be packaged and how to handle them safely 
15. how to use and check the tools and equipment required for your 
    work  
16. operational and organisational requirements for storage of work 
    materials and equipment appropriate for their nature, characteristics 
    and value  
17. aspects of your work which could pose a health hazard and methods 
    to minimise this  
18. how to identify aspects of work which may be be detrimental to 
    safety or the environment  
19. sources of information on industry developments and how to assess 
    their impact on own work  
20. organisational requirements for handling disposing of waste 
    including recovery of reusable materials  
21. organisational recording systems