MSA-South Africa offers a Quality Management System & Moderation service.

Moderation services related to Firearm, Security & Close Protection Unit Standards

MSA offers a moderation service for your company as this is a requirement of SASSETA / P.F.T.C (Professional Firearm Trainers Council). A MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) are available on request.

The responsible person at the training provider is to request moderation, then the moderator will allocate 10% of your portfolios for moderation. The moderator will facilitate on-site, off site moderation and moderation during assessment.

There are four quarters to be moderated in the year, your moderation needs to be completed in these quarters and a copy of the reports must be submitted to either P.F.T.C or SASSETA.

These reports are required to be kept electronically and filed for 6 years at your offices for verification visit from P.F.T.C or SASSETA.

One Moderation Report may be used for the entire three-month quarter, or you may use one moderation report per month and may include all learners assessed which we have selected for moderation.

The on-site (at your training centre) moderation can be completed on-site or during assessment so that the moderator can mentor any short comings if any and to verify quality assurance. The moderator’s function is to assist and support the assessor and correct any short comings in assessments and smooth the assessment process.

This service will include all the development advice required to assist in assuring your quality. A good standard of administration is the training providers highest priority and to stay compliant with the E.T.Q.A‘s of P.F.T.C & SASSETA.

A signed MoU is required by both parties and the responsible person will need to agree with the terms and conditions of the moderation service. The training provider will need to comply with the quarterly submissions, the moderator can withdraw the MoU and P.F.T.C/ SASSETA will be informed accordingly that the moderator will no longer moderate the providers assessments.

Moderation Plan

1. Training Providers are required to have Moderation done once per quarter, four quarters in a year.
2. As per SAQA, QCTO, SASSETA and P.F.T.C ETQA requirements, a minimum of 10% Moderation must be completed on all Learner Portfolios of Evidence. E.g., 100 learners that are completed and certified in one quarter, then a minimum of 10 portfolios must be moderated in that quarter.
3. The Moderator must personally select the Portfolios for Moderation. The Training Provider’s under no circumstances select the Portfolios to be moderated.
4. To manage the quality assurance for a new or existing training provider that utilises our moderation services, our services require you to be moderated every month for the first (3) three months to make sure the assessors are assessing according to the industry standard. Thereafter, if all assessments practises are satisfactory, then the normal moderation process will come into effect every quarter from there.

The Moderation types being conducted during a one-year cycle should include one of all three moderation process to offer you a professional service.

Recommended by SASSETA & P.F.T.C for quality assurance.

• On-Site  
• Off-Site  
• Moderation during Training and assessment

Notice to Trainers providers.

1. If there is anything you are unsure about, please ask, contact M.S.A / P.F.T.C or SASSETA’s office on jamesmag@telkomsa.net or ETQA@pftc.co.za and you will receive an explanation to any questions. This applies to Moderator, Assessors, Instructors, and the training providers responsible person.
2. Powers of the Moderator
   It is important to understand that the Moderator is there to ensure that you are adhering to the requirements of the Unit Standards. The Moderator does not have the power to suspend you, or your company and they do not have the power to enforce their personal opinion. If you think that the Moderator is not being reasonable, please contact the P.F.T.C / SASSETA with your concerns.
3. Moderators’ responsibility
   • If the Assessors and or Training Provider are not adhering, co-operating or refusing to adhere to the Unit Standards Criteria and P.F.T.C / SASSETA requirements, it’s the duty of the moderator to inform the relevant P.F.T.C/ SASSETA /ETQA’s of the findings.
   • If the company has an internal moderator, then this moderation must still be moderated by an external moderator to verify the authenticity of the assessment process.
4. Cost Guideline (This will vary depending on the training provider’s needs).
   • A fixed quarterly fee per quarter for this moderation service, paid for the quarter to secure your MoU and the moderation process.
   • If the unit standards are in-house training, or are not sold to the public, then a flat rate per quarter can be negotiated.
   • If the company needs additional moderation because of an increase of portfolios or irregularities, then according to P.F.T.C / SASSETA Moderation policy, (An increase of moderation can be increased over and above the 10% per quarter), this to correct any serious problems that the assessor has made, then a cost per POE will come into effect.
   • However, we are open to negotiations, and or a monthly/ yearly retainer can be agreed upon to conduct our services without any disruptions. This is dependent on many factors, e.g., Travel, quantity of POE’s/ learners, training groups, professional advice on quality management for the company’s assessors etc. Please request a meeting to discuss these options.
   • An Optional Internal Verification inspection by the moderator can be done as a service for your company to prepare you for a formal verification visit by P.F.T.C/ SASSETA; this will assist training providers in meeting the required verification criteria. This will prevent unwanted delays in your company’s accreditation.
   • During this inspection, a complete check of all relative items, professional advice offered, and a report offered at the end of the inspection.
   • Cost for this full verification on-site visit can be discussed, excluding travel and other costs incurred. This will include the first five (5) portfolios to be moderated.
   • Our service for new companies, a fee can be negotiated to assist you in registering your company for accreditation with P.F.T.C. / SASSETA and SAPS.
   • We also offer a formal QMS (Quality Management System) that is needed for any of the Seta’s accreditation. This is a generic QMS; it can be incorporated with your company’s details and the unit standards that you require accreditation for as a training provider with P.F.T.C/SASSETA. Please contact the director for this, so we can design your very own QMS.

Terms and conditions

• Email the moderator to request moderation seven days in advance.
• A duplicate of the MoU between the responsible person and the Moderator must be made available to the P.F.T.C/SASSETA for verification of the agreement.
• It’s the responsibility of the responsible person at the training provider to request moderation every quarter and the not the moderator.
• The MoU may be terminated at any given time by the moderator or training provider for violation of the agreed terms, or for any other reason. A 30-day notice shall be given by either party.
• It’s the responsibility of the training provider to make sure that all their accreditation processes are in order and up to date.
• A Moderation report and professional advice will be submitted to the responsible person, it’s the company’s responsibility to file and submit the moderation report to P.F.T.C/ SASSETA.
• Prices can be changed without notice, please make sure your MoU is in date.

If you need a professional moderation service and a verification visit and to ensure your quality, please contact me to set a meeting to discuss this service.