The weight of expectation on examiners
BSS Examiners play a key role in helping create a safer environment that attracts people to the inland waterways and the way examiners carry out their work is critical to the success in meeting this aim.
Examiners enjoy an independent status and it could be considered that because examiners are not employed by the BSS, they have a free reign to operate in the way they choose. In one sense this is true, for example for those examiners employed at boatyards and marinas it allows BSS examining to sit alongside the other services on offer and for self-employed examiners to choose the number of boats they examine or the blocks of time they can visit relatives in far-flung corners of the globe.
However, as the public face of the BSS, in all aspects of being an examiner there are expectations placed upon them that influence such key aspects of ensuring the consistent application of the BSS checks (see the Conditions of Registration) to whether or not their customers choose to recommend them to their boat-owner friends (see the Customer Care advice).
The main expectation, or rather obligation, is carrying out consistent examinations is nothing less than customers and the BSS Office can expect - this describes the competent BSS examiner and is what you have been trained to do.
However all sections of this website are intended to support you excel in how you perform as a BSS Examiner. Your examining performance is a measure of your examining competence and the examiner excelling in the way he/she performs…:
- understands the risks underpinning the checks and the role that raising safety awareness has to play;
- consistently applies the checks using a checklist, no matter what pressure the owner may be exerting or how ill the examiner may feel on the day;
- understands the importance of dealings with customers in helping keeping them satisfied and safe;
- takes pride in how they deliver their critical safety service to customers from start to finish including clear and presentable paperwork;
- takes control of the need to keep up to date with changes and seeks out self-improvement;
- registers on time and ensures their stocks are ordered in advance of being needed;
- provides complete records and reports every examination fully and on time.
A full list of the expectations on BSS Examiners is contained in the BSS Examiner Service Level Agreement.