Humberside Fire & Rescue Service have used pdrPro and the learnPro LMS since 2008. In that time, the Service has developed its use of the system to include the creation of sophisticated reporting tools and senior management dashboards in Power BI that are driven by data contained and updated in real-time within the pdrPro system.
Prior to the implementation of pdrPro, Humberside FRS used ‘Work Activity Logs’ which were primitive written descriptions of any training activities undertaken. pdrPro provided a vast improvement over the previous system.
As pdrPro is a ‘one-stop shop’ for all competence-related activities, Humberside FRS considers it a very simple system to understand. Utilising the RAG system, users can see when activities are due to expire and react to this information accordingly. With little training, end users find the system very easy to use and navigate. The system is set up in layers. The L&D team can give managers/supervisors access to different views that assist in maintaining competence across the organisation.
There are features within the pdrPro system that allow administrators to choose between managerial sign-off, end user sign-off and system-automated sign-off. This is determined by the ability for a firefighter to evidence completion of any activity and Humberside FRS have all three options in place depending on the importance or risk-critical nature of the activity carried out.
All e-learning is automated. There is the ability for managers to group sign some materials as they lend themselves well to group learning.
The completion of learning materials and recording of training activities are stress-free and managed by the L&D team. Learning materials are added and then completed by staff through automation, ensuring a fair approach to compliance.
The Humberside FRS L&D team regularly engages with station-based crews and managers on the use of the pdrPro and learnPro systems. The general feedback from operational and green book staff is positive regarding the systems themselves, easy to navigate and to see exactly what training needs to be completed and maintained as an end user. Staff generally report few concerns around the use of the system itself.
It is important to balance learning materials and maintenance of skills, as adding too many learning materials may run the risk of overloading certain duty systems such as On-Call, who have significantly less time to train.
Humberside FRS takes care to balance this demand and normally shares learning materials and core skills frameworks out across each year. The NOG Training Framework is a perfect example of where Humberside FRS have adopted a 48-month training cycle to ensure they limit fatigue.
From a management perspective, the system includes valuable time-saving tools and reports to efficiently manage crews’ competence, courses and training frameworks.
The Course Management System (CMS) module in conjunction with the reports and Power BI dashboards have become integral systems for Humberside FRS, enabling senior management to make informed decisions around training and compliance and allowing L&D to plan and issue course training invitations to staff directly through pdrPro. They can track Course Requalifications and CPD through this module and help to determine demand for training over the following years based upon the skills/course/qualification expiry dates.
This functionality is used as a general planning guide as retirements, moves, sickness and new starters all impact the data. CMS also records historic CPD records against the staff member’s individual record, which is very useful when performing audits on competency and compliance.
The introduction of the pdrPro maintenance of competence approach and system solution has helped to meet the expectations of the Operational Competence Fire Standard and allows Humberside FRS to channel guidance, policy training frameworks and compliance into one place. Humberside FRS now have more than 990 users, both operational (779) and ‘green’ book (211) staff, managing their training and compliance through pdrPro and the learnPro LMS.
