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Competency
Last updated November 2023
This chapter explains how to meet your obligations to ensure your workers are competent to safely perform tasks.
Why must your workers be competent?
You are required by health and safety legislation in all jurisdictions to ensure that workers are competent to undertake their work tasks.
Definition: Competent
A competent person under health and safety laws means a person who has the knowledge and skills to carry out the task. They will have acquired knowledge and skills through training, obtaining qualifications or experience.
A competent person under health and safety laws means a person who has the knowledge and skills to carry out the task. They will have acquired knowledge and skills through training, obtaining qualifications or experience.
Important: Competency is a measure of proven knowledge, skills and abilities to a level required to complete a task safely and successfully.
Competency includes all aspects of the work, including:
- having the skills needed to perform the various tasks of the role;
- being able to manage the full range of activities required by the role; and
- being able to respond to unexpected problems.