What is Competence?

What is Competence?

In the world of adventurous activities, "competence" isn't just a buzzword—it’s a legal requirement. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and various supporting regulations (like the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999), employers have a duty to ensure that anyone performing tasks that could affect safety is "competent" to do them. This affects organisations with employees and volunteers (although organisations that have no employees are not covered).

Competence may include, in some cases, minimum medical fitness (eg for driving vehicles) and either or both physical and mental aptitude (eg the ability to climb and work at height to operate a tower crane), as well as knowledge and skill.

Routes to Competence

In the eyes of the HSE, competence is a journey, not a destination. There is no single "certificate" that makes a person competent; instead, it is a blend of different learning pathways.

The routes to competence are generally categorised into three main streams: Formal, Informal, and Experience-based. The term 'competent person' is used in several pieces of legislation, including LOLER and PUWER although 'competent person' is not explicitly defined in law.

The "S.K.A.T.E." Framework

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) generally defines competence through a combination of factors. A common way to remember this is the SKATE acronym:

• Skills: Practical ability to perform a task correctly.

• Knowledge: Understanding the theory, the "why," and the relevant laws.

• Ability: Physical or mental capacity to carry out the work.

• Training: Formal instruction (certificates, courses, etc.).

• Experience: Real-world time spent applying skills in different situations.

Training alone does not make someone competent. A person can have a certificate but lack the experience to handle an emergency, or have 20 years of experience but lack the updated legal knowledge to work safely today.

What does this mean for us?

In adventurous activities it's obviously really important that whoever is leading these activities, be it a paid employee or a volunteer, is competent to do so.

Using the same SKATE framework we can explore what competence might mean for us, given the example of an outdoor instructor working at an urban abseil at a village church.

Skills

Skills are the nuts and bolts of what an activity leader will be doing. Can they tie the knots, operate the belay, fit a harness and helmet correctly etc. These skills are typically those involved in participation, plus additional 'leader' skills which are often a higher level and broader. This should involve some personal abseil skills and additional belay skills and emergency procedures.

Knowledge

This is broader than what. Knowledge also includes 'why'. This should include a clear role description, knowledge of the risk assessment and processes that they are expected to follow including safeguarding procedures. A clear role descriptor can help articulate what knowledge is required. It might include knowledge of the anchor locations, a familiarity with the risk assessment for this specific venue, and the operating procedures for this abseil.

Ability

Ability might reference physical fitness, including general health. Organisations requiring staff to drive might offer free eye testing and expect this to be done every few years for example. This might include a 'fit to work' policy.

Training

This might involve National Governing Body (NGB) awards or in-house statements of competence supported by an appropriately experienced technical advisor. It could also be additional training such as a recent outdoor first aid certificate, organisational training, or additional disability awareness training for example.

Experience

Experience might typically form part of the acquisition of NGB awards or in-house qualifications. This might be personal experience of participating in the activity at a particular level. It should involve breadth and depth suitable to the area that the leader is going to be working in. This might include experience working at other abseil venues with a variety of anchor set ups and types.

Role Descriptors & Competence Matrices

Organisations should aim to create comprehensive role descriptors which list the core competencies for a given role.

Where these don't exist, it's often useful to start with the job description for a given role and expand this to include the SKATE framework above. Be as specific as possible. It is then possible to use this to evidence the competence of your activity leaders.

If you need help creating competence matrices, or in determining if activity leaders in your context are competent just get in touch.

This article, as with our other posts, does not constitute legal advice.

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