MEMIR and OIMCE sit close together in OPITO's emergency management family, close enough that they are often mentioned in the same breath, and sometimes booked as if one followed automatically from the other. They do not. They are different kinds of product, for different moments in a person's development, with different entry requirements.
MEMIR is training
Major Emergency Management Initial Response (product 7228) is a training programme. It equips personnel with formal training in command, control, communications and stress-related factors in managing major emergencies. It has no prerequisites, runs to 26 guided learning hours over consecutive days, is roughly two thirds scenario practice, and gives every learner the emergency manager role in at least two scenario types. Its certificate has no expiry date.
MEMIR's job is to build capability. It is where emergency management team members and future emergency response managers learn and practise the discipline.
OIMCE is assessment
OIM Controlling Emergencies (product 7025) is not a course. It is the formal assessment of a candidate acting as the OIM, controlling emergencies in a simulated environment. Personnel presented for the product may be OIMs, Deputies for OIM or Emergency Deputies, provided the employer-readiness requirements are met. The assessment itself covers a minimum of three emergency scenarios, with a maximum of four attempts permitted, and while the certificate has no formal expiry, OPITO recommends re-assessment at least every three years.
OIMCE's job is to demonstrate competence, formally, in a named command role. By the time a candidate sits it, the learning is assumed to have already happened, through training, drills, experience and the employer's own competence process.
How they relate, exactly
OPITO lists OIM Controlling Emergencies under MEMIR's "what could this product lead to". That is a development route, not a qualification chain. Completing MEMIR does not by itself satisfy OIMCE's entry requirements: those are met through the employer's declaration and evidence of workplace readiness, which MEMIR attendance alone cannot provide. Equally, MEMIR is not listed as a formal prerequisite for OIMCE; the standard's entry requirement is the employer's declaration, not a particular certificate.
A reasonable way to hold the distinction: training develops capability; assessment demonstrates competence. MEMIR does the first. OIMCE does the second, for one specific and demanding role.
What this means in practice
If you are building an emergency management team's capability, or developing future emergency response managers, MEMIR is the instrument. If you have an OIM or deputy whose competence needs formal demonstration to the industry standard, and your organisation is ready to declare their readiness with evidence, OIMCE is the instrument. An organisation may use both at different points in a person's development, alongside drills, exercises, experience and workplace appraisal.
If you are unsure which your situation calls for, that is a five-minute conversation, and we are happy to have it.