Raising the Bar

Knowledge, Skill, and

Ability Competencies

What are the KSAs?

• Originally published in June 2001

• 12 positions were developed:

OIM, Toolpusher, Driller Assistant,

Driller, Electrician, Mechanic,

Motorman, Crane Operator,

Derrickman, Floorman, Roustabout,

HSE

• List of baseline knowledge, skills and

abilities required to perform the job

Universal Benchmarks for a

Competent Workforce

The Knowledge, Skill, and Ability (KSA) project is IADC’s

major drilling industry project to answer the need for

globally accepted competency benchmarks.

KSA competencies list the recommended capabilities

that rig-based personnel should possess to safely and

consistently fulfill their job roles.

The Process

By the Industry, for the Industry

• World mapping exercise, which

included in- and out-of-industry models

• Global survey of the industry, trade

organizations, and regulatory bodies

• Review of survey results for best

practices, templates, and

implementation models

• Defining of competencies for 73+

identified positions

Phase 1 (Complete)

• Quality, Health, Safety, and

Environment

• Offshore Drilling Operations

• Onshore Drilling Operations

• Crane-Rigging Operations

• Subsea Operations

• Marine Operations

• Technical Maintenance

• Processes and Procedures

Phase 1 (Complete)

Establishment of project workgroups to include:

Phases 2 (Complete)

• Workgroup mapping of competency

elements to positions and database

filters (complete)

• Construction and beta testing of

relational database for delivering

on-demand, unique KSAs by

position (complete)

• Identification of additional rig-based

support positions; development of

KSAs for additional positions

• Well Servicing

• Company Man

Additional KSA workgroups

added to include:

Phases 2 (cont’d.)

The KSA Company Man workgroup has completed

competency development. Competencies are pending upload

to the KSA Database.

Phases 3

• Development of a feedback portal for continuous improvement

(complete)

• Development of resource and reference libraries

• Recommendations for a variety of assessment methods for use

in a competence assurance program

• Development of recommended acceptable ranges of

performance for each competence

• Translation of KSAs from all workgroups into Portuguese and

other additional languages

Accessing the KSAs

Competencies at Your Fingertips

KSA competencies can be used to:

• Build or evaluate in-house competency programs

• Assess personnel capabilities and qualifications by

building assessment guides

• Build personnel development tools by identifying

competency strengths and gaps

• Develop career advancement pathways

KSA Database

• Relational database for delivering on-demand, unique KSAs by

position

• Enables user to narrow KSAs based on selection of specific criteria

options (position, environment, rig type, equipment, geographic

region, etc.)

• KSA (core competencies) generated based on selected criteria

• Additional competencies may be selected and added to create

customized KSAs

KSA Database

Now available via the IADC website:

http://www.iadc.org/knowledge-skill-and-ability/

KSA Database

For information, contact:

Brooke Polk

brooke.polk@iadc.org

Competence & Learning

Development Specialist, IADC