Quick tips for checking competence cards

FOLLOWING a number of recent accidents where subsequent investigations by the Health and Safety Executive called into question the value of the competence cards held by the operatives involved, HSE and EMP Awarding Body have compiled a set of ‘quick tips’ to help managers check that cards have been issued by a credible body.

Any quarry manager or supervisor offered a card as proof of competence card should look for the following:

1. Who issued the card and are there sufficient details of the issuer to trace them and to talk to them?
2. Does the company issuing the card have any credibility in the quarrying industry? For example, is it accredited by EMP, or does it hold a recognized name like EPIC?
3. Does the card or the issuer’s website state: full details of the training the cardholder undertook; full details of any assessment of competence which the cardholder undertook; and, if relevant, details of how the competence is benchmarked to the national occupational standards for that particular occupation. If this information is not on the issuer’s website, phone them and ask about these details.
4. Is the card relevant to the quarrying industry? For example, a CSCS card might be acceptable for an item of mobile plant but does there need to be some CPD to make the competence relevant to a quarry rather than a construction site?
5. How old is the card and is it still valid? If the card is a few years old it might be wise to question what CPD has taken place since then to maintain competency.
6. Can the issuer validate that the card is not a forgery by checking the candidate name and details on the card against their own database?

Many training companies now issue competence cards and quarry operators need to feel confident about accepting them. A considerable amount of guidance regarding competency is available on the HSE website (click on link below) and the quarry manager or supervisor should be confident that the card he/she is looking at matches this guidance. It is also worth remembering that just because an employee or a contractor has a valid competence card, it does not remove the need for appropriate supervision.