IChemE Singapore joins unique alliance on skills certification

ICHEME SINGAPORE has joined a unique alliance with the country’s government and industrial trade unions that will see its qualifications recognised as momentum builds to boost worker skills and certification.

Last week, the National Trade Union Council (NTUC) made IChemE Singapore a U-Associate (UA), bringing it into the fold of a network of professional guilds and associations that work together to help develop plans to progress careers and skills. Along with three other UAs and seven unions from the oil, petrochemical, energy and chemicals sectors (OPEC), IChemE Singapore has formed what is being heralded as a unique alliance on skills.

The Singapore government is making a proactive effort to prepare its workers for the changes in manufacturing being brought about by the likes of digitalisation, with the launch earlier this month of an Industry Transformation Map for the energy and chemicals sector.

The NTUC said that under the current system, process technicians who have amassed years of skills and experience do not have certifications to prove their technical expertise.

“The OPEC cluster of unions and IChemE Singapore are now looking to collaborate on efforts to raise the standards of process technicians and boost the transferability of their skillsets,” said Chan Chun Sing, secretary general of the NTUC. He described the alliance as the first of its kind in the history of Singapore’s Labour Movement.

IChemE Singapore chairman Joe Eades said: “This means that EngTech and Incorporated Engineer (IEng) will be recognised qualifications for process technicians and process engineers respectively, and Chartered Engineer and Professional Process Safety Engineer will be recognised towards senior process engineer and senior process safety engineer roles.

“Thousands of process technicians and engineers will now be able to demonstrate to their peers and employers their experience, judgement and commitment to the profession through an internationally peer-reviewed professional qualification framework. This will allow process technicians and engineers greater opportunities for career progression within their organisation and throughout the OPEC cluster”.