Competence and competencies in explosion protection

When we talk about competence and competencies, we need to delve a little deeper into the meaning of the words. They originate from the Latin word "competentia", which means "proficiency". But what do we mean by that? "Proficiency" is generally understood to mean the skills and abilities required of a person in order to successfully perform a particular activity. If our knowledge, skills and abilities enable us to effectively solve problems in specific situations where the problems cannot be solved by following routine procedure, then we are considered to be competent. The field of explosion protection requires people who are able to respond competently, i.e. by choosing the correct course of action, in hazardous situations. They must possess personal competence, action competence, the ability to make decisions and work on their own initiative, social and communication skills, in addition to technical and methodological competence. All these in combination play an important role at work. Special work environments such as those encountered in the field of explosion protection also require a high level of expert knowledge – technical competence is a must.

If we take a closer look at § 2 of the German Hazardous substance and Occupational health and safety ordinances (GefStoffV/BetrSichV), we can find the definition of "expertise" ("Fachkunde" in German). The definition refers to the need to possess certain specialist knowledge and skills, with the required expertise varying depending on the task at hand. The two ordinances refer in general to the professional training and qualifications that a person must have, their professional experience, their most recent work in the field, and measures to keep their knowledge up to date, e.g. by undergoing training.

As an example, let's consider the explosion protection document. The legislature stipulates that the explosion protection document must be kept up to date. Regulations such as ordinances, directives, laws, standards and informational publications are regularly amended and updated to incorporate new findings. Training measures should therefore be implemented at least once a year. An even more effective approach is to ensure continuous engagement with the topic so that people are able to maintain their knowledge at a high level. So what form might such a training measure take? Due to the demands of the job, frequent participation in training courses and seminars is often not possible; even online events can be very time consuming. Moreover, the content of different events overlaps. Participants are unable to simply skip topics with which they are already very familiar, and content tailored to the participants' needs is rarely offered. What is more, with self-study there is a risk that some things might be misunderstood, and these misunderstandings may well find their way into the person's work further down the line. This is where metacognition can come in useful. This is a term in psychology that refers to people's ability to reflect upon and critically assess their perceptions, memories and decisions. Area9 Lyceum divides competence into four distinct categories:

• Unconscious incompetence (false assumptions according to which people incorrectly believe that
       they possess certain skills or knowledge)
• Conscious incompetence (people are aware that they do not possess certain skills or knowledge)
• Unconscious competence (people may not realise that they already possess certain skills or
       knowledge)
• Conscious competence (people probably already possess certain skills or knowledge)

Another aspect of competence is automatism. This describes the ability to perform tasks without having to consciously think about them, e.g. everyday driving. More specifically, in the field of explosion protection, a rapid response is essential when a hazardous situation is developing. Taking too long to weigh up the situation and ponder possible responses and outcomes may prove fatal and incur heavy financial losses. Training that cultivates the development of automatic responses, for example regular damage control training, enables rapid processing of complex information in stressful situations.

Taking all the above into account, digital training solutions that use integrated artificial intelligence to tailor training content to your needs could be the answer if you are looking to increase the efficiency of professional development measures. Participants no longer need to work through an entire e-learning course; all they need to do now is complete the topics that are relevant to them. The relevant topics are identified by the software's artificial intelligence, which runs in the background. By asking learners questions about their knowledge of the individual topic groups and by employing metacognition, learners' self-assessments can be used to determine, in real time, not only their abilities but also where the gaps in their knowledge lie. This provides learners with an optimal, scalable approach that adapts to their specific needs as they proceed through the training. They can set their knowledge level to a level between "Beginner" and "Expert", and the artificial intelligence in the background will continually adjust the content depending on the knowledge level that the learner is displaying. If, for example, the learner has classified themselves as a beginner at the start of the course but they achieve good results in the tests during the course, they may be moved up one or more levels, e.g. to "Advanced" or even "Expert" level. As a result, the learning time can be considerably reduced.