A focus on the role and responsibilities of the AE(D)

In the first of a series of articles planned looking at the role, background to, and work of IHEEM’s four Authorising Engineer (AE) Registers, Graham Stanton, who chairs the AE (D) Registration Board, and is a former chair of the Institute’s Decontamination Technical Platform, examines the role of the Authorising Engineer (Decontamination). Looking to the future, he also explains how IHEEM and the AE(D) Registration Board are ‘very much on the way to developing a new and very much improved framework and support system for the educational needs and the future system of registration for AE(D)s’.

The current HTM 00 summarises the roles, responsibilities, scope, and duties of the Authorising Engineer (Decontamination). The document covers the roles of the other Authorising Engineers, as it is seen as a generic position and requirement of the service. The detailed responsibilities and roles are outlined in the technical HTM (Health Technical Memoranda) 01-01, 01-05, and 01-06 documents (and in WHTMs in Wales). HTM 00 sets out the role of the person willing to take on the AE (D) position and responsibilities, and to become registered on the IHEEM Register. NHS healthcare guidance recognises that both the decontamination processes, and, equally, engineering equipment and systems, are becoming increasingly complex as time goes on.

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