Maintaining, repairing and carrying out minor works on a variety of water environment assets.
Occupational Profile
This occupation is found in organisations where there is a responsibility to manage the impact of water environments, natural or manmade, on the land and surrounding businesses and homes. The water environment includes rivers, coasts (the sea), lakes, wetlands, canals and reservoirs. Water can cause erosion to our coasts and riverbanks, damage assets and infrastructure, e.g. canal walls, and create the risk of flooding on both a small and major scale. Flooding can come from multiple sources, including from rivers, the coast, surface water and groundwater, and organisations who work in this area are often involved in preparation, response and recovery following flooding from all sources. There is also a responsibility to protect water quality and to monitor its impact on habitats for wildlife. The prevention of environmental pollution in our waters and wetlands and meeting the objectives outlined in the Water Framework Directive is essential for creating and maintaining natural habitats.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to create a safe environment where the public can enjoy our water environments and the surrounding land and buildings, whilst protecting the environment, and creating habitats for species to thrive. This includes minimising flood and environmental incidents by utilising assets to manage water levels and using techniques to mitigate the impact of pollution, particularly in natural habitats.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with members of the public as they are carrying out their duties in the field. Members of the public can include paying customers as well as the general public making use of towpaths, other public pathways and the water environment. In addition, employees will work with contractors, paid to deliver projects (usually of a construction nature, but may include maintenance), volunteers, who offer time and services to invest in their local environment, and other teams from their organisations.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for delivering their scheduled work activities to time and on budget. Where required, they will be responsible for any plant and equipment supplied to carry out their duties. Whilst part of a team, they may be working alone in the field, and will be required to carry out duties in a safe manner in accordance with their organisation’s health, safety and wellbeing procedures. When not working alone they will be expected to be aware of the safety of others working alongside them, for them, or visiting the area, e.g. contractors, as well as members of the public. As a frontline representative of their organisation they are expected to display their organisation’s values and behaviours and respond to customer queries in a positive manner. They may be responsible for maintaining water levels to mitigate against the effect of flooding.
Summary of Standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/water-environment-worker/
Full Standard
