Certificate of Technical Competency

You have been in the auto recycling business since you finished school, your children have been brought up in the business and their children are of an age where they want to finish school and come and join you, and the Environment Agency are now asking you to take a test to prove your competent to operate a recycling yard.

You are probably thinking what do they know about running a salvage yard that I don’t?

Well, the bad news is that Technical Competency is here to stay; the good news is that it is not too difficult once you know how the testing procedure works and have received a little bit of training.

There are three elements to the test, the generic module and then two activity specific modules that most End of Life Vehicle sites should be taking.
The Generic module looks at three areas:
• The Law – this includes Waste Carriers, Environmental Permitting, Hazardous Waste Controls and so on.
• Health and Safety – Equipment, Manual Handling, People on Site etc.
• Environmental Protection – for example - Drainage, Bunding, Liquid Containment, spillages, etc.
This part of the test is 20 questions with multi-choice answers.

The activity specific modules focus directly into such areas as End of Life Vehicles, Metal Recycling, Waste transfer Station and so-on, and these are 6 questions for each, again with multiple choice answers.

It is best to work with professionals in this area to determine the exact modules required and the training needed to pass the Technical Competency tests, both UK motor salvage federations are offering training to their members, so their web sites would be a good place to start, www.mvda.org.uk and www.bvsf.org.uk , you could also work with your local Environment Agency office to determine what is required, as the modules detailed above are only suitable for members of staff with considerable experience of running auto recycling operations, and newer staff may be required to complete more intensive training and development before being technically competent.

If you are based outside of England and Wales then there is currently no requirement for you to hold this qualification, so you can watch with interest as your colleagues work through these tests, however if you are based in England and Wales you cannot ignore the requirements, without a Certificate of Technical Competence the Environment Agency could revoke your Waste Management Licence or Environmental Permit with major consequences on your business.