PAJ Expert Training at EARL.

Chew Joo KimManager, Technical Services.
East Asia Response Pte. Ltd.

PAJ Expert Training at EARL.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
By kind invitation from PAJ, I am here to present a short paper on “PAJExpert Training at EARL”. I shall firstly outline the necessity for training.
Next I shall discuss the PAJ training in Singapore. Finally, I shall describe
what we at EARL are doing to upgrade our training modules and expand ourtraining programme for the year 2000 and beyond.

The Necessity for Training.
We are in the business of oil spill response and we must have the following
prerequisites:i)adequate equipment,ii)
sufficient manpower, andiii)
necessary skills
If any of the above prerequisites is missing, then our response will beineffective. As important as each one of them is, you can still achieve a goodmeasure of response if you only have a small amount of equipment and alimited number of personnel, provided they are knowledgeable, skilful,highly trained and fully committed to the task. Unfortunately this does not
apply the other way around, i.e. the response will be ineffective if you have a
lot of equipment and a great number of men if they have little or no training
at all. When all is said and done, it is the highly trained crew that will win
the day. This is true of an army at war as it is for those managing a crisis oran oil spill.
The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response andCooperation 1990 (OPRC ’90) of which Japan is a party to, has as its goal,oil spill preparedness in all coastal states and countries at risks. Part of that
preparedness is the development of national contingency plans for countries
that are party to the Convention. As you know, the ultimate test of any
contingency plan is when it works for real. In order for it to work
successfully, players in the contingency plan must know their role and betrained in their responsibilities. The contingency plan will need to beexercised and amended where necessary, then exercised and amended yet2

again in its cycle towards being a good contingency plan which can be usedwith confidence in a crisis.
OPRC ’90 also calls for a minimum level of pre-positioned oil spill
equipment, commensurate with the risk involved, and training of personnel.
Such training goes beyond the practical know-how in operating the various
oil spill combating equipment from the stockpile of the response Centres, oil
terminals, E&P installations or tankers. It goes beyond knowing how tomaintain the equipment and having a programme for maintenance. The
training must be comprehensive. Responders will need to know not only
how to work the equipment but how the equipment works and its limitations.
They will need to know the effects of their chosen strategies. If they chose todo nothing they will need to know the effects of making that choice as well.
In short, they will need to be knowledgeable in all aspects of oil spill
response. To this end, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in
promulgating OPRC ‘90 developed a global training programme to assist
governments in its implementation of the Convention to provide them withstandard training modules. Three courses have been designed for specificlevels of users. The 3 courses are:Level 1 for First Responder. The course is designed with the aim ofimproving the skills of operator personnel responsible for undertaking onsite clean up operations and to provide them with a complete overview of thevarious techniques available for recovering oil spilled at sea and cleaning ofpolluted shorelines. Course duration : 5 days.
Level 2 for Supervisors and On-Scene Commanders. The course is designed
to provide the basic knowledge and skills required of an On-Scene
Commander to carry out his role and responsibilities, to coordinate andmanage the response to an oil spill.
Course duration : 5 days.
Level 3 for Administrators and Senior Managers. The course is designed tomake senior officials aware of the responsibilities of the members of an oil
spill response organization to effectively respond to an oil spill through thedeployment of equipment and resources at the national level.
Course duration : 3 days.
When trained, the staff will form the cornerstone for the effective
management of oil spill response in their country.
3PAJ Training in Singapore.

PAJ has a programme consisting of 3 main areas:i)
Preparedness and Response,ii)
Research and Development, andiii)International Conferences.
It is the first activity which is now being discussed. In its programme ofpreparedness and response, it is evident that PAJ places great emphasis intraining because 1) they have varied oil spill equipment in their stockpile
bases both in Japan and overseas 2) some of their equipment are of foreign
manufacture for which familiarization is needed 3) they have an active
participatory programme in conducting emergency drills for their members
and government bodies 4) they believe in the need to become proficient inclean-up operations in order to achieve a prompt and effective response.
The training given to their staff members is not restricted to their local basesin Japan but in their search for self-improvement staff members are also sent
abroad for specialized training.
Since 1996 EARL has been priveledged in working with PAJ in theirtraining programmes. Each year PAJ sends a small group of between 10 to
14 staff members from their 6 Japanese bases to Singapore for a few days’
training in oil spill response. The first group began with a 3-day Oil Spill
Familiarisation course which was modelled along industry standards. The
course provides a comprehensive introduction to oil spill response andcovers pre-spill planning, response strategies and spill operations. Case
histories are discussed to emphasize the lessons learned from those incidents.
The course is mainly classroom based and covers all the theoretical elementsof the 5-day Clearance Course. Topics include Cause, Fate and Effects ofspilled oil, Environmental Issues, Surveillance and Tracking, Contingency
Planning, Dispersants, Containment and Recover, Protection, Shoreline
Clean-up, Burning & Bioremediation, Practical Management, Handling theMedia, Inland Spills and Safety Issues.
In 1997 and 1998 the course was expanded to 4 days to include both theoryand practical work. The course was based on the 5-day Clearance Course4developed by Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL) some years ago. The course
modules selected were compressed into 4 days as requested by PAJ.
The course provides a complete overview of all aspects of oil spill response.
The objective was to equip participants with knowledge and skills to become
an effective member of an oil spill response team and an awareness of thesecondary issues that arise as a result of a spill.
In 1999 EARL introduced the 3 IMO courses developed as part of theOPRC ’90 implementation. The introduction of these IMO courses wasmade in anticipation of implementation of OPRC ’90 which came into force
in Singapore in June of ’99. The PAJ group which came to Singapore lastyear was offered the IMO Level 3 course for Administrators and SeniorManagers. The focus of the course was on the operational management andpolicies involved in responding to oil spills.
All the courses that we carry out for PAJ are run in English with Japanesetranslation. The course material was also translated into Japanese with theobjective of making it as easy as possible for course participants to follow
the lectures.
PAJ’s programme of sending staff members abroad every year for training
in oil spill response is to be encouraged, even applauded, as it is anindication of their strong commitment to achieve a prompt, effective andefficient response to oil spills. It is a worthy programme which should begiven full support by its members.

Upgrading EARL Training Programme.
EARL was formed in 1993 and modelled along OSRL (then known as OilSpill Service Centre or OSSC). Two senior management staff and one seniortechnician from OSSC came to Singapore and helped to set up EARL. It
became operational very quickly.
The prime objective in establishing the EARL Centre is to have anorganisation with sufficient resource to respond promptly and effectively toan oil spill by its members. This means that a lot of time and effort are put indaily to ensure that staff are well trained and the equipment well maintained.
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Being prepared is what matters. However, training others in the techniquesof oil spill response is another important objective of ours. Training serves
the following purposes:
1. It keeps the trainers updated in oil spill response techniques.
2. It keeps knowledge and skills of operational staff current as theyattend the various courses regularly and are themselves involved in
the equipment demonstrations including nearshore and offshore
exercises that form part of the course programme.
3. It allows trainers to share their knowledge and experience with others.
4. It generates income, and
5. It enhances EARL’s reputation as a centre of expertise and learning in
the Asia-Pacific region.
EARL held its first training courses in November - December ’93. These
were conducted by OSSC training staff who flew in from Southampton.
Subsequent training courses were conducted jointly between OSRL/EARL.
The training courses offered at that time were a 1-day Senior Executive
Acquaintance Course, a 2-day Refresher Course, a 2-day Familiarisation
Course, a 2-day Contingency Planning Course, a 5-day Clearance Course
and a 5-day Management Course.
Initially the training courses were conducted with 3 OSRL and 1 EARL
training staff. As EARL grew in knowledge and experience in oil spill
response business, EARL’s involvement in the joint training courses
similarly grew in significance to the point where the roles were reversed i.e.
3 EARL and 1 OSRL personnel conducted the training. The courses were
held twice yearly at EARL Centre in Singapore i.e. in February and in
November/December.
Also since the fourth quarter of ’94, EARL had begun conducting its own
in-house training courses and oil spill exercises with its members. Thesetailor-made courses were not publicized and were ad hoc in nature in thatthey were usually requested by the member-company 2 or 3 months before
the required date. As EARL has 5 founding members who are oil majors
each needing its own training and exercise each year, the heavy demand intraining and oil spill exercises meant that our training skills grew rapidly.
Apart from running the joint courses with OSRL and in-house courses for6members, EARL also conducted external training for third parties, notably
IMO/UNDP, Petronas, Pertamina and PAJ.
In 1999 EARL made two significant changes to its training strategy. The
first change was in moving away from the industry-type courses andintroducing the 3 IMO courses mentioned earlier. The change was made tosupport Singapore’s implementation of OPRC ’90 but it was also madebecause many enquiries were received asking for the 3 IMO courses to beconducted.
The second change was to move away from ad hoc customised courses for
EARL members to on-going public-run courses. EARL members will still
be able to request for specific in-house training but they will now have towork their training requirement around the public-run courses.
The changes made are significant in that running standard courses andstandard modules by the adoption of the IMO courses saves a lot of time
when compared to the previous method of planning for individual
customized courses. In addition this system offers versatility through thewide selection of modules available. The end result is an increase inefficiency and productivity. Of course it should be recognized that thetransition period saw a huge amount of work put in before the systembecame operational.

What next? Like PAJ, EARL will always strive for improvement, to be thebest it can be. EARL’s Consultancy and Training Department’s plans foryear 2000 are :1.

Improvement through OSRL/EARL alliance.
As you may be aware the Alliance Agreement took effect on 1
January 2000. This alliance between the two International Tier 3
Centres brings together a wealth of practical experience which canbe used to improve the two Centres’ operations including training
and consultancy. A simple exchange of ideas and incorporation ofconstructive feedback will bring about new and improved training
modules which will better serve both members and third parties
alike. These modules should be seen as separate and an addition tothe IMO courses which will still be the mainstay of the training
courses offered.
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2.

3.

4.

5.

Improvement through the selective translation of course material.
The lack of mastery of the English language has more often than
not been the root cause for the poor understanding of the lecturesdelivered. This is understandable because the English language is
not the mother tongue nor the official language in many of theAsia-Pacific countries where the training is conducted. Henceselective translation of the course material into the host country’s
national language where needed will make the course presentationeasier to understand.
Improvement through the use of Information Technology.
EARL is in the process of upgrading its training room at its Centrein Singapore. When completed, the use of new equipment will
improve the quality of the audio and visual display of the lecturesdelivered.
Improvement through the use of local coordinators/interpreters.
This is usually in addition to the translated course material offered
and the use of their local knowledge and native language will
greatly assist in the quality of training offered.
Improvement through participation of relevant government
agencies in the host countries.
Their presence will lend realism to the course. They have thecapacity to present an authoritative viewpoint where it matters.

In concluding, let me say once again that it is essential that you must havethe right skills for the job, and the only way to acquire the necessary skills inthe shortest time possible is to get the right training for it. Also, training
should not be looked at as a one-off affair. Attending a 3-day or a 5-daycourse does not make one an instant expert. All too often a participant will
be sent to a course and upon his return be expected to be the company expert
on oil spill response business. It doesn’t work that way. Lessons learned will
have to be practiced till they become second-nature. A refresher course may
be necessary if the lessons learned some years ago have been forgotten. An
advanced course may be necessary to build on the basic lessons learned.
Other courses are available for learning other skills. Whichever course isright for the participant, he or she should be given the training over and overagain if necessary until he or she is capable of doing the work confidently
and efficiently. That is the essence of training itself – to be able to do the jobright.

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