Competencies

Competence is the ability of a resource to perform the required work. A competency is a set of defined behaviours that provide a structured guide, enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the behaviours in individuals and other resources.

Typically, resources are materials, energy, services, individuals and knowledge or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit and in the process may be consumed or made available. Specific competencies that a resource might require when undertaking work are defined. The proficiency level specified for a resource determines if the resource is sufficiently competent to undertake an allocated task. A competency would normally cover the legal aspects of being able to undertake a task, while the proficiency identifies the best skilled resource for the task. Resources are grouped according to the type of resource. These include staff members, special resources and contacts.

Competency examples

Examples of competencies that a staff member or contact might require are:

• Medical: If a human resource is applied in a physically challenging environment, they require a medical to ensure that they are physically competent to perform their work.
• Welder certificate: If a welding related incident occurred and the operator did not have a welding certificate the client will be liable.
• Computer literate: In cases where computer work is required to perform the required work.

Special resources could include special tools, vehicles and machinery. Examples of competencies that a special resource might require are:

• Calibration certificate: All scales need to be calibrated annually and the certification needs to be held on record. Should there be a production related issue or incident due to lack of quality management due to non-calibrated scales.
• 50m reach height: Boom lifts can have varying reach heights. The very high boom lifts are not always available on site and are brought in as and when required.