Management system guidance
7.0 Support
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7.2 Competence
Clause 7.2 requires your organization to decide what competence its workers need where their work affects, or could affect, OH&S performance, and then to make sure they have it. Competence must be based on suitable education, training or experience, and ISO 45001 specifically includes the ability to identify hazards. Where gaps exist, your organization must take action to acquire and maintain the necessary competence, evaluate whether those actions worked, and retain documented information as evidence of competence.
Remember that ‘workers’ in ISO 45001 means anyone performing work or work-related activities under the control of the organization (see clause 3). That includes top management, managers, supervisors, permanent and temporary staff, and can extend to contractors and agency workers. Competence actions can include training, mentoring or re-assigning existing staff, or hiring or contracting people who are already competent.
Determining competence requirements
Start with roles rather than individuals. For each role, Annex A suggests considering:
- The education, training, qualifications and experience needed, and any re-training to keep competence current;
- The work environment and the hazards and OH&S risks associated with the role;
- The preventive and control measures that result from risk assessment (6.1.2), e.g. safe systems of work and permits to work;
- Legal requirements and other requirements, such as licences and certificates of competence (6.1.3);
- The OH&S policy and the requirements of the OH&S management system;
- The potential consequences of compliance and noncompliance for the worker’s health and safety;
- The duties and responsibilities attached to the role (5.3);
- Individual capabilities, including experience, language skills, literacy and diversity;
- Updates needed when the context or the work changes.
Workers must also be competent to remove themselves from situations of imminent and serious danger, which means they need enough training on the hazards and risks of their work to recognize such situations. Worker representatives and safety committee members should receive the training they need to carry out their representative functions effectively.
Worker participation
Clause 5.4 e) emphasizes the participation of non-managerial workers in determining competence requirements, training needs, training and the evaluation of training. People who do the job know where the real risks lie and what knowledge is missing. Involve them in training needs analyses, in reviewing job safety analyses, in designing toolbox talks and in giving feedback on whether training worked. Where possible, provide training free of charge and during working hours, as this removes a significant barrier to participation (in many countries it is also a legal requirement).
Training needs analysis and competence matrix
Identification of training needs is typically the first step in developing a competence-based training programme. Include new hires, temporary workers and contractors, not just existing staff. Line managers and supervisors usually determine the training needed to close the gap between a person’s current knowledge and skills and the hazard- and task-specific competence their role requires.
A competence matrix for each workplace or team makes this visible: roles down one side, required competencies (e.g. manual handling, confined space entry, forklift operation, first aid, risk assessment, incident investigation) across the top, with each person’s status and renewal date. Where workers lack a required competence, or a mandatory certificate has expired, appropriate training, retraining or supervision must be provided before work starts or continues.
- Induction – site rules, hazards, emergency arrangements, incident reporting and how to raise concerns;
- Hazard-specific training – e.g. hazardous substances, electrical safety, working at height, confined spaces, identified from risk assessments and job safety analyses;
- Licensed or prescribed training – e.g. forklift, ionizing radiation, diving, where legal requirements apply;
- Role-specific OH&S training – first aiders, fire wardens, emergency controllers, worker representatives, internal auditors;
- On-the-job training – delivered by an experienced, competent person, with sign-off once the required level is achieved.
Evaluating effectiveness
Training alone does not prove competence. Effectiveness can be evaluated through practical assessments, observation of work, tests, supervisor sign-off, toolbox talk discussion, appraisal reviews and trends in incidents and near misses. If someone is still not competent after the action taken, further action is needed. Training effectiveness and competence trends can be reported to management review.
Contractors
Managers who engage contractors should verify that contractor workers hold the qualifications, experience and competence specified for the work (see 8.1.4), and should not allow work to start until a site induction and task-specific briefing has been completed. Retain records of contractor competence checks, licences and inductions.
You should seek and record evidence that the competence required for roles affecting OH&S performance has been determined (including the ability to identify hazards); that workers, including temporary and contractor workers where applicable, are competent on the basis of education, training or experience; that gaps are addressed and the effectiveness of actions evaluated; that non-managerial workers participate in determining competence and training needs; and that documented information such as training records, certificates and competence matrices is retained (see 7.5).
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