REGULATORY
Improving Professional Practice APEGA’s new strategic plan will, among other things, call for improvements and clarification in our professional practice requirements. We’ll meet this strategic priority through better, clearer, and more specific direction for Permit Holders and their Responsible Members
APEGA has about 4,600 Permit Holders, and all of them are required to develop, maintain, and deliver PPMPs. Each Permit Holder must assign at least one of its RMs to manage the PPMP.
As we heighten our attention to professional practice, APEGA has a great opportunity to strengthen our relationships with Permit Holders and their Responsible Members (RMs) — all serving the cause of working together to be better self- regulators. Launching next year, the 2017-2019 APEGA Strategic Plan will guide us in connecting with these critical partners in self-regulation to improve and enhance their management and quality systems for professional practice. In fact, one of four priorities in the new strategic plan is entitled Professional Practice. Changes in this area we’re working on are outlined later in this story. But first, here’s a refresher on APEGA’s permit system.
IN THE NEWS
The public has an increased expectation for engagement, communication, and transparency from companies that practise engineering and geoscience. This desire for an improved social partnership, as it is sometimes called, is often reinforced by current events. News items that come to mind include the Elliot Lake mall collapse in Ontario, the tailings pond failure at Mount Polley Mine in B.C., and pipeline failures in Alberta and elsewhere.
PERMITS EXPLAINED
WHAT’S CHANGING?
In Alberta, companies and many other organizations must have an APEGA Permit to Practice before they can practise engineering or geoscience and use reserved words in their names, in ways and forms that suggest they are legally allowed to practise — words like engineer or geoscientist, for example. Once issued a permit, a Permit Holder must designate at least one APEGA Professional Member as an RM for each APEGA profession it practises. Permits are renewed annually, just like other APEGA professional memberships. RMs are employed by the organization, either as regular employees or contractors. The number of RMs needed increases with the size of the company. The rule of thumb is one RM for every 10 Professional Members and Members-in-Training, per profession. It’s the duty of every RM to help regulate the practices of engineering and geoscience within their organization. RMs must ensure their employers have appropriate and properly enforced Professional Practice Management Plans (PPMPs) in place. What is a PPMP? It’s a document that outlines the corporate policies, procedures, and systems used to ensure engineering and geoscience work done by the company is • carried out responsibly • meets APEGA’s professional, technical, and ethical standards • meets other legal requirements
APEGA is developing clearer guidelines, standards, and bulletins for Permit Holders and RMs to use as they develop this social partnership. These will enhance and clarify their professional obligations and give them better direction on PPMP expectations and oversight. They’ll give Permit Holders, RMs, and, indeed, all Members a stronger understanding of their responsibilities, while also improving APEGA’s ability to self-regulate on the public’s behalf. We’re not just responding to the public in this area. These changes are something Permit Holders themselves have asked for, which underlines their desire to keep improving. Guidelines, standards, and bulletins will contain more details for Professional Members, RMs, and senior management, outlining specific requirements in such areas as • document authentication • outsourcing • contractor checks • proper hiring and position titling Permit Holders will continue to be required to show APEGA, in clear detail through their PPMPs, how they are meeting APEGA’s practice standards, guidelines, and bulletins, and how they are ensuring that all engineering and geoscience work is subject to their companies’ quality management systems.
10 | PEG FALL 2016
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