PETRONAS, OPITO Deliver on Skills Agenda for Malaysia

Region is Home to World’s first OPITO-Approved Oil & Gas Technical Qualification Centre.

Oil and gas workers and those seeking to enter the industry in Malaysia now have access to globally recognized qualifications and training thanks to a ground-breaking agreement between OPITO and PETRONAS.

The Malaysian national oil company and the international oil and gas skills body signed a strategic skills memorandum of understanding in 2012 to help build a safe and competent, indigenous oil and gas workforce and establish INSTEP as a globally recognised centre of technical excellence. The outcomes of this agreement  have seen seven training centres in South-east Asia become accredited to deliver emergency response training to international standards and the world’s first OPITO-approved qualification centre delivering technical training to globally recognized qualifications.

At a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur  OPITO and PETRONAS will recognize the achievements of INSTEP (Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas) in becoming the world’s first centre to offer globally recognized vocational qualifications in electrical and mechanical maintenance and instrumentation and controls.

Hundreds of Malaysians will now be trained to recognized industry qualifications, allowing them to work anywhere in the world. This will open-up new economic opportunities for the Malaysian people, increase the global mobility of the country’s workforce and give employers  confidence in the competence of their technicians.

Earlier this month, OPITO announced the launch of a global framework for vocational qualifications. The oil and gas skills body has developed global technical standards and a qualifications framework which will meet current and future skills demands and improve competence in the operations and maintenance activities associated with the extraction of hydrocarbons.

On presenting INSTEP with its accolade, group chief executive of OPITO, David Doig, said: “Through our work with PETRONAS, INSTEP will now be the first in the world to deliver qualifications which are industry-designed and industry-recognized and underpinned by technical training standards, occupational standards, a robust assessment process and accredited certification and qualifications.

PETRONAS and OPITO have also been working to ensure that every worker gains Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) before going offshore as a mandatory requirement in the same way as it is compulsory in the North Sea. Seven training providers in South-east Asia have now been accredited by OPITO to deliver this training which makes sure an individual knows how to get to work safely, carry out their work offshore safely and return home safely.

As a not for profit organization, owned by the industry, OPITO will reinvest the revenues generated by these accreditations and standard in the continuous development of educational products and services for the benefit of the industry.