VCA certificate
What is a VCA certificate and how can you get it?
When working in construction or in a factory in the Netherlands or a country closeby, you will often need a VCA certificate. Otherwise you might not be allowed onto the construction site or into the factory. What exactly is a VCA certificate? What does it mean if my company needs to be VCA certified? Are those questions you ask yourself? Then you are in the right place! In the following paragraphs we will explain what a VCA certificate is and how you can obtain it ánd what a VCA certificate for an entire company consists of.
VCA certificate for individuals
VCA is an abbreviation that stands for Safety, Health and Environment Checklist Contractors. As you probably can guess from the name, VCA revolves around Safety and Health rules. The goal of VCA is that every employee that works in a hazardous or high-risk environment can work safely. How can I use machines in a safe manner? What do I do when I think there is a safety issue? What do I do when an accident happens on a construction site or in a factory? Who needs to be notified and in what order? These are all things that are discussed in the VCA theory.
To get a VCA certificate, you need to take an exam. It is possible to follow a one day course in preparation for this exam. in1keerVCA.nl offers all kinds of courses in towns and cities all over the Netherlands. Our courses are usually in Dutch, but can be taken in a few different languages. Two times a month we offer a course in Polish. Other languages like English, German, Turkish and Romanian are also available. However, in those cases we will organize the course especially for you, incompany, so you need to have a group of employees to take the exam. It is possible to book a one-on-one course or a course for just a few people, but our fixed daily price stays more or less the same.
There are three different types of VCA exams: VCA Basis, VCA VOL and VCU VIL.
VCA Basis is meant for people who are employed and do not have any supervisory duties.
VCA VOL is meant for people who do supervise a group of people or are self-employed.
VCU VIL is meant for people who work at an employment agency. They also need to be aware of the safety rules that the people they are providing a job for need to follow.
The course for these three types is the same, only the exam differs.
VCA certificate for companies
It can also be necessary to get your company VCA certified. Often people or companies will only give jobs to companies that are VCA certified, so they know the job will be done safely. in1keerVCA.nl can help you obtain this certificate.
To get a VCA certificate for your company, the following actions need to be taken:
- We need to determine whether your company is eligible for the VCA certificate. It is meant for contractors who do high-risk jobs or jobs in a high-risk environment. VCA for companies is not meant for people who are self-employed.
- Next we determine which level of the certificate you need: VCA*, VCA** or VCA Petrochemie.
- Thirdly we check whether your company follows all the Health, Safety and Environment rules and which areas need to be improved.
- Then we will request the certificate from one of the certification agencies. They will check your Safety, Health and Environment Policy in an audit. If everything is in order, you will receive the certificate.
If you have any questions left or if you wish to obtain a VCA certificate for yourself or your company, do not hesitate to contact us!
You can send an email to info@in1keervca.nl or you can call us at 085-0667401.