What Is A Competency Assessment? How to Build Your Program!

How does your company ensure that workers are competent to operate equipment and perform the tasks assigned to them?

As business owners and safety professionals, one of the first questions we should be asking is:
"Is this person competent to do this job?"

Most companies know they need to perform competencies, but struggle to build the program, create the forms, train assessors, and stay consistent.

On major projects, I learned firsthand how often incidents were directly tied to one thing: the worker was not competent to perform the task. Many were assigned dangerous jobs with minimal hands-on experience or training beyond a classroom certificate.

The biggest danger?
Not knowing what we don’t know.
Assuming a worker is competent because of a resume or certificate is a recipe for injuries, downtime, and liability.

The good news: you can build a standardized process that removes the guesswork and ensures workers are only performing tasks they are competent to complete—or supervised by someone who is.

Competency vs. Competent: What’s the Difference?

Before building a program, it helps to understand the terminology:

Competent

A person who has the necessary ability, knowledge, and skill to perform a task safely and successfully.

A Competency

An assessment tool used to evaluate and verify a worker’s skill level through observation and documentation.

Understanding the difference is key: competencies are how you prove someone is competent.

How to Build a Competency Assessment Program

Creating a strong program becomes manageable when you break it into steps.

Step 1 — Use Your Experienced Workers as Subject Matter Experts

Your experienced workforce already knows the job better than any manual. Bring them into the process early, they will become your assessors and help define what competence actually looks like.

Step 2 — Review Incident Reports

Look back at the past year of incidents, near misses, and injuries.
Which of them were caused by:

• inexperience

• inadequate training

• incorrect assumptions

• new worker errors

These insights help prioritize which tasks and equipment need competency evaluations first.

Step 3 — Gather All Supporting Materials

Collect:

• OH&S legislation

• Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Manufacturer’s guidelines

• Critical task lists

Then combine this with the real-world, practical knowledge of your experienced workers. Include:

• body positioning

• environmental awareness

• common mistakes

• contextual hazards

These nuances rarely appear in manuals—but they’re crucial.

Step 4 — Build the Competency Forms

Each competency assessment should include:

• task/equipment being evaluated

• checklist items based on legislation + SOPs + SME knowledge

• reason for assessment (new hire, refresher, post-incident, etc.)

• space for comments from both worker and evaluator

• follow-up training recommendations

This documentation becomes your proof of due diligence.

Step 5 — Define When Competencies Must Occur

Competencies should be:

• consistent

• routine

• documented

• repeated when tasks change or skills fade

Evaluate new workers by walking them through real tasks where every required skill can be observed.

In this video we teach you the importance of competency checks and then how you can build or strengthen your existing program.

Benefits of Competency Assessments

For the Worker

• Builds confidence and prevents overwhelm

• Reinforces that the company values their safety

• Encourages workers to request training proactively

• Strengthens safety culture and communication

For the Company

• Reduces incidents, injuries, and downtime

• Improves work quality and reduces rework

• Increases compliance with OH&S legislation

• Demonstrates due diligence

• Supports worker retention

• Ensures consistent expectations across all sites

Competency assessments protect both people and business outcomes.

How Safety Software Streamlines Competency Programs

Most companies struggle because competency programs require:

• paperwork

• training assessors

• tracking completions

• follow-up reminders

• updating records

• storing documentation

Safety Evolution was built to solve exactly that.

With digital competency assessments, you can:

• Send automatic reminders for follow-ups

• Attach completed competencies to worker profiles instantly

• Let evaluators complete assessments electronically

• View results in real-time across all sites

• Never miss required refresher training

• Reduce administrative time dramatically

For many safety teams, this feels like finally getting their time back.

Ready to Strengthen Your Competency Program? Talk to Us.

If you need help:

• building your competency program

• improving what you already have

• or streamlining everything using software

—we can walk you through it step-by-step.

Get guidance on competency programs and see how Safety Evolution can support your team.

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