FEATURE
Celebrating 30 years of WAMITAB
By CHRIS JAMES, CEO at WAMITAB
As the cornerstone industry organisation enters its forth decade, we take a look back at how WAMITAB has evolved over the years.
T
HE Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board (WAMITAB) was set up as a joint initiative by the Road
Haulage Association (RHA); the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM); the National Association of Waste Disposal Contractors (NAWDC) later to become the Environmental Services Association; and the then Institute of Wastes Management later to become the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).
From the outset the aim was to serve the industry as the effects of increasing regulation regarding waste, recycling, reuse and disposal were beginning to take hold.
Qualifications and competence
We have been developing vocational qualifications for 30 years, starting with a core offer relating to Waste Management Licensing Regulations and the development of a framework for the Certificate of Technical Competence (COTC). The first COTC was awarded in 1995; by 1999 there were some 1,000 COTC holders and by 2007 the 9,000th COTC had been issued.
Despite the name, WAMITAB is not a formal training provider. Instead our range of vocational qualifications is offered through a network of approved centres. We currently have over 70 centres delivering quality provision and are always keen to welcome new centres on board.
Continuing Competence was introduced in March 2009, marking its tenth anniversary this year. Initially this was required on a fixed two-year cycle but a rolling programme was introduced
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in late 2013 to make the scheme more flexible and accessible, and certificates now
include an expiry date.
Over time, WAMITAB’s coverage has expanded reflecting changes in the industry that saw the larger organisations moving into the wider facilities management arena incorporating street cleansing, industrial cleaning and parking into their service offer.
Four nation approach
We operate across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, working closely with the environmental regulators in each country. Our qualifications are regulated by Ofqual in England, Qualifications Wales, CCEA in Northern Ireland and SQA in Scotland, which requires us to have rigorous quality assurance processes in place.
Overseas
Over the years, WAMITAB has also been involved in a few European funded projects. Back in 1998/99, we were partners in a Leonardo di Vinci funded project called WAMQUAT: Waste management qualification, tutoring and assessment including telematics. More recently, in 2014 we partnered on an Erasmus funded project, EwasteR, which created a skills framework to support a sustainable approach to e-waste.
We have also worked with waste management organisations in the Middle East and Far East to support the
implementation of training for their operational staff.
More recent developments
In January 2018, we were selected by the Ministry of Justice as the exclusive Awarding Organisation for cleaning, facilities management and waste management qualifications across Her Majesty’s Prison Service establishments in England and Wales. Working with the prison estate has been a long-standing tradition for WAMITAB, but this contract reflects a more formal arrangement and offers an opportunity to facilitate pathways into employment in the sector for those who achieve the qualifications.
During 2018 we also gained approval as an End-point Assessment Organisation (EPAO), and we are now approved as the EPAO for the Metal Recycling General Operative Standard (Level 2) as well as the Waste Resource Operative Standard (Level 2). In addition, we are actively involved in the development of further standards relating to waste management and the broader facilities management sectors.
What will the next 30 years hold? We will likely see further regulation, increased use of technology in the industry and in qualification delivery and assessment. Watch this space!
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