What is Competency Under OHS Law?
OHS laws require employers to ensure that certain kinds of work task, operations, functions and duties that may endanger workplace health and safety be performed only by “competent,” or in some cases, “qualified” workers. While definitions vary, “competent” generally means that the worker or person has the knowledge, education, training and/or experience necessary to carry out the function in a safe and healthy manner. Learn the key differences!
In addition to meeting general definitions of “competent” and “qualified,” in most jurisdictions, workers need additional training, professional certification or designation to perform certain kinds of work, such as successfully complete electrical safety training to be deemed a “qualified electrical worker” who can work on or near highly energized equipment, installations and circuits. Learn from one of our experts, Braydon Sikora from Cranemasters in the What is Competency? webinar.
Training: Why Workers Require Competency Tests After Safety Training?
How many of you have been given a 200-page OHS manual and told to read it’ Of course, after you’ve read the manual, you’re asked to sign a waiver stating that you’ve read and understood its contents. So, you just skim through the manual, thinking, “I have sufficient work experience. I know what I’m doing.” And then you sign the waiver.
A oilfield services company did just that. They gave a large health and safety manual to its workers, told them to read it and, after they’d read it, sign a waiver that they understood its contents. The company didn’t give the workers a competency test to determine if they’d actually understood the manual. It mistakenly believed that the onus was now on workers to work safely. Read the Article!
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