Verification of Competency: The How, What, Why

Are you regularly checking whether your staff can operate safely? Maintaining a safe workplace environment is critical in every industry, especially high-risk ones involving machinery or hazardous substances. And it starts with ensuring your workers are competent in their roles and follow the correct procedures. 
As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that anyone handling equipment, substances, or tasks that could pose a risk is adequately trained and assessed regularly. You also need to identify any skill gaps and satisfy health and safety requirements. 

How do you verify employee competency?

Verifying competence involves observing, training, evaluating and ongoing assessment of the worker's technical skills and core competencies. 
There are tools available to make that task a bit easier, including the following: 

• Skills matrix - a visual tool used to map employee skills and competencies
• Competency management software - specialised software tools like our very own Checksafe offer a customisable framework for managing competency assessments
• Verification of Competency (VOC) - this is one of the most widely used tools in NZ by health and safety-conscious industries like construction, manufacturing, and agriculture

In today's post, we focus on VOC, one of the most popular and powerful ways to determine whether team members have the required skills.

What is Verification of Competency?

VOC is a process for ensuring that employees have the necessary skills, knowledge, and ability to perform their tasks safely and effectively. It involves both theoretical and practical assessments to evaluate a worker's competence. ​

What are the benefits of a Verification of Competency?

When it comes to an effective competency management system, VOC offers several benefits to companies. Here are the headlines you need to know: ​

Workplace safety

By ensuring staff remain competent, VOC helps with risk management and reduces the likelihood of workplace accidents. ​

Regulatory compliance

Many industries have legal requirements for worker competency, and VOC ensures you meet those obligations. ​

Internal assessments

Experienced supervisors can conduct assessments, so there's no need for external consultants.

No downtime

Employees can be evaluated on the job without stopping operations, booking classrooms, or arranging cover.

Tailored assessments

You can customise evaluations to fit your specific operational needs.

Targeted training

VOCs provide department heads with more oversight of employees' skill sets. You can then tailor-make development programs to address any shortcomings. 
Despite the many benefits, managing VOC can be time-consuming and heavy on paperwork. Records often need to be uploaded into multiple systems, and assessments can be missed or forms lost.

Enter Checksafe!

Our platform streamlines your VOC processes by allowing you to create customisable VOC forms for any operation, accessible from any device. 
Say goodbye to paperwork! Results and certificates are automatically emailed to team leaders, follow-up actions are assigned, and notifications are sent when assessments are due. Plus, our easy-to-read dashboards show when assessments are outstanding and help you identify skills gaps.
Improve your safety performance and competency management system with Checksafe. Get started today with a free demo. ​