Training to Competence

Abstract

How do you know your staff are consistently competent? Can you verify this against the standards of competence? This article will help you to answer these questions. The article defines competence and training and goes on to highlight how to use national standards of competence to create measurable training programs and to develop and implement relevant assessment to ensure that they meet these standards. The article explores how the training of staff and evidence of their competence is central to accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 and ISO/IEC 17020: 2012. In the US, international standards are a must for accredited Forensic Laboratories, and the article helps explain a format, purpose, structure, and use of these internal standards for analyst competence. Of course, giving someone the knowledge, skills, and understanding (competence) to do their job is a very different proposition to ensuring their ongoing competence in the workplace.