The qualification required for the shot firer 's profession is very different around Europe. Most countries have developed their own training courses fitted to the local regulations or in some countries there is no educational means at all. But people who work on this profession often have the same technical knowledge and competence all around European Union, but even though they can not work abroad without starting the process of gaining permission to blast from the beginning in each different country. As this problem is real and affects many countries, international companies and different industries in wider sense the European Federation of Explosives Engineers - EFEE decided to create a technical competency certificate for shot firers to make it possible for them to prove their skills and competencies in order to work abroad without going through additional learning processes. In 2008 the ESSEEM- (European Shotfirer Standard Education for Enhanced Mobility) under the program of Leonardo da Vinci project proposed by EFEE -( the European Federation of Explosive Engineers) developed a Powerpoint material organized in 6 chapters, in English. With this project called PECCS - Pan European Competency Certificate for Shot firers /blast designers, EFEE's aim is to create a course, according to the valid European Shotfirer Requirements, for a standardized assessment of technical competencies for the shot firer / blast designer profession in European Union.The Course will be based on a material with 6 chapters from a previous project and an additional chapter will be added about tunneling, the materials will be worked through and modernized if necessary. During this project all partners collaborate to add exercises, exams to the materials and all this will be put together for a course which also will be available as online course in order to reach as many people as possible. The outcomes of this project: the materials with examining questions, exercises, the course based on these materials and the online courses, will be available on the internet for free on www.shotfirer.eu. In order to maintain a good quality and appropriate educational outcome of the courses we will create a Guidebook based on the learning material for trainers and shot firers who want to learn independently online. The examining questions and courses will be tested and validated by specialists. Those who successfully pass exams after they have followed the course, can apply for a Pan-European Competency Certificate from EFEE. The certificate will be acknowledged in all EFEE member countries. By doing this we wish to improve the overall level of knowledge and skills of shot firers in order to improve the safety at work and give good knowledge of environmental friendly techniques and innovative skills. The course will consist of modernized learning materials, practical exercises and exams, composed to educational level 4 according to the European Qualification Framework.Our aim is not to change any existing regulations but to create a possibility of proving real and good technical competencies in this profession in different European Union countries. This will also, to a high degree, increase the overall safety when handling explosives and better awareness of the environment for those who work in quarries or mines.The work will be done by partners, who have good and long experience on this area of expertise. The outcomes will be validated and approved by specialists who have well acknowledged background on this subject. The partner countries represented are United Kingdom, France, Czech Republic, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Estonia. The project will be carried out in three years, starting in the autumn 2016.After the end of the project, all created materials will be maintained and kept available by EFEE who will take care of the web page created during this project, the online course and certifications.
Blasting works is the base for all construction – without industrial explosives there is no efficient means to get aggregate or cement etc. The blasting works is done by shot-firers and blast designers, the profession is based on vocational education but it usually requires strong certification processes and work experience before one is allowed to work as shot-firer. But in Europe, there is a big mobility issue with this profession – the companies are international and big infrastructure or mining projects need a lot of professional workforce, but shot-firers and blast designers cannot work abroad without starting the certification processes from zero in each country, it is very expensive and time consuming, even though work is the same. Different countries just didn't or couldn't accept foreign certificates for this profession. EFEE – the European Federation of Explosives Engineers have tried to solve the problem for many years now, although without real success. Eventually it was decided that the problem should be solved from the roots – the education. In Europe, the education for shot-firers and blast designers is variable and differs a lot by quality, therefore EFEE decided to create a unified certification system with a learning course and exams to prove ones knowledge and competence, without trying to change regulations in different countries. It was started with a Leonardo da Vinci project called ESSEEM - European Shot-firer Standard Education for Enhanced Mobility to collect materials, then it was necessary to put it together into a course. So 8 partners from EFEE, all connected to explosives industry from different sides, like educational entities, private companies and national associations, decided to work together with a project called PECCS – Pan-European Competence Certificate for Shot-firers / blast designers. The goal of this project was to create a shot-firer course and certification system which could be accepted by all European countries.The outcomes are modernised and updated PowerPoint learning materials, a Guidebook for teachers and trainers and exercises and examining questions – this was all put together as full shot-firer course on EQF level 4 (some countries level 5). All the outcomes are also available in internet in an Online Learning Environment which is shared into two separate systems – one for learners and other for teachers and trainers. There is 8 chapters connected to blasting works in the course, the course has been tested three times in different cities in Europe - Stockholm, Paris and Dresden. On these Test Courses the participants included authorities, specialists, teachers, trainers and shot-firers from the explosives industry who evaluated the materials, gave feedback and shared their opinions about the future. Through dissemination and the Multiplier Event, it became clear that people who are connected to the industry understand the problem and support the goals of the PECCS project. The goals were supported not only inside Europe but it reached even to US and Canada, who face similar problems with shot-firer education, there PECCS was looked upon as a good example. With this project the course is created so that it could be given without fee for educational entities around Europe who would cooperate with EFEE to educate shot-firers - the whole package is called EFEE Education System. All 25 Member Associations of EFEE have given their support and most of them have already said they will accept the Pan-European Certificate. Already 4 to 5 organisations in different parts of Europe want to continue with this education. The project outcomes were created in good quality, the materials were evaluated, the activities were successful and it is already clear that the process will continue. EFEE has already decided on the next year budget for the PECCS continuance and EFEE Education System. As the process is already taking place and there is acceptance for the certificate, then in the future we might be able to move closer to a European Directive for shot-firer mobility thanks to this project.