Qualifications v competence

It is well understood that organisations such as NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health) and CIEH (the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health) offer standardised Health and Safety Training following a qualification path leading to membership and recognised letters after a person’s name. It is even now possible to become a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner. But where does this leave specialism and technical competence? 

If you were to talk to a handful of delegates on a Human Vibration or Noise at Work Competence course run by the likes of Castle Group Ltd, many of them have already taken the likes of a NEBOSH certificate or diploma. Their reason for attending will be to gain particular skills in technical subjects like Noise, Vibration or Electromagnetic Field Regulations. It soon becomes clear that generalised qualifications in safety spend very little time on any one subject, relying on practical experience and the discretion of the practitioner to go forth and acquire the knowledge independently.

Standards of training

Without doubt, there are good competence based courses available, and these courses have an important role to play. They can provide in-depth, application based skills and knowledge to either supplement a more formal qualification or just to build up enough areas of expertise to get the job done.

It is important with specialist training like this, that the provider has a background in the subject matter; this can give the course more depth, better access to equipment and good post-training support. It is also a good idea to check out the past record of the provider by asking around – your local inspector might even have some words to say.

Competence accreditation?

A question often asked of training providers is what accreditation a course has. In the case of competence courses, there is no such thing. Just because one course is run by an institute and another run by a private, commercial organisation, this does not mean either has accreditation in itself.

The current state of play in the UK is that not one organisation (of those contacted) is able to offer accreditation for external competence based courses. Without some form of accreditation, the field is open to less-than-scrupulous training providers and could be leaving many delegates with a false air of confidence in their level of competence.

Conclusions

In conclusion, competence courses can be vital in filling in the knowledge gaps, but they are not regulated and can, therefore, vary enormously. When looking for such technical courses, ask the provider how long they have been going, how many delegates pass through their hands and perhaps even ask your local inspector if they’ve heard of them.