The blue light sector – including police, ambulance, fire services, and other emergency response organisations – depend significantly on non-operational support staff to maintain operational efficiency, deliver effective customer service, and ensure smooth day-to-day functioning.
These administrative and public-facing roles form a critical backbone of the sector, allowing frontline responders to concentrate on emergency response duties. To recognise their skills and development, SFJ Awards have launched a new Level 2 Certificate in Administrative Support for Public Safety Roles qualification.
What types of skills do administrative staff need in public safety organisations?
Whilst many of the skills are transferable across sectors in administrative or non-operational roles, the complex operating environment of public safety organisations means that there are additional considerations for those working in this sector.
Core skills will be aligned to communication, digital abilities, data handling, and effective organisation, for example.
Sector specific skills could be around managing challenging behaviour, frameworks and legal awareness (which could include security clearance, incident response, or responsibilities for sharing and working with other agencies), or the confidentiality and security of data.
Why is a sector specific administrative qualification needed?
Administrative roles across the UK make up over 60,000 in the core emergency services, and number many more for providers and partner organisations. Many of these individuals will need sector specific skills and awareness as mentioned above. However, there is currently a lack of sector-specific training and qualifications that reflect the unique responsibilities and challenges of these roles.
This qualification has been designed to address this gap, supporting professional development and strengthening capability across the sector.
Ready to deliver?
If you are a centre looking to deliver this qualification, get in touch with us today to discuss. If you are not an existing centre, you can start the approval process today to get set up – our quality assurance experts are on hand to help.
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