What is the Competence Management System (CMS)?
Developed with leading waste management, recycling and water organisations across the UK, and the Environmental Services Association, the Competence Management System (CMS) is a cost-effective way to demonstrate technical competence to manage and comply with environmental permits.
The standard is based on the recognition that the individual competence of all employees contributes to the overall performance of a site. It can be used by any company, from any industry, that is required to demonstrate technical competence for their environmental permit. This standard also integrates with existing management systems such as ISO9001 and ISO14001, reducing costs and delivering whole business improvements.
The Competence Management System (CMS) is approved in England by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency, in Wales by the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, in Northern Ireland by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and in Scotland by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
CMS is accredited by UKAS, the UK’s National Accreditation Body and is being rapidly adopted as an industry benchmark.
The UK government, legislation requires all applicable waste facilities to have a written management and technical competence conditions applied. Technical Competence Requirements are outlined here.
If you have an environmental permit (or waste management licence) for a waste operation, or certain installations, you may use the government approved scheme – Competence Management System (CMS). The CMS scheme considers the competence of your business as a whole.
To join this scheme the company needs to have a competence management system in place, and this must be certified by one of the scheme’s approval bodies.
Only Certification Bodies accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17021-1: 2015 for the Competence Management Standard are recognised by Energy & Utility Skills as Scheme Approved Bodies.
Scheme Approved Bodies below:
Standard
Version 5 of the CMS standard was published for Certification bodies to begin the process of gaining UKAS accreditation and was updated to reflect the requirements for management systems.
These requirements include a high-level structure, identical core text, and common terms with core definitions, designed to benefit users implementing multiple management system standards. The new version is aligned with Annex SL, which makes it more compatible with other management systems standards like ISO 9001, ISO14001, and makes the integration even easier.
The overall aim of this standard is to comply with the environmental permit, support environmental protection and protect human health from the waste management process. The competence of people at each level in the organisation whose work affects this protection is essential. A competence management system will enable operators to demonstrate that they have the ‘technical competence’ required to satisfy regulatory requirements and comply with the environmental permit.
A copy of the Competence Management System Private Standard can be purchased from the EUSR shop.
FAQs
What are the Benefits of The Competence Management System?
Removes reliance on specific individuals, who could become unavailable due to sickness and holidays or leave the business, and maintains business operational continuity regardless of individual staff member issues.
Increases staff awareness of environmental issues and permit requirements and applies increased awareness of emergency situations thereby potentially reducing incident response time and risk of site downtime.
Satisfies the competence condition of your environmental permit in a proactive business focused manner.
Proves your business operates responsibly through building in business resilience by establishing robust systems, demonstrating you have processes in place to avoid permit breaches and associated reputational risk.
Bespoke to your organisation and recognises investment in training across the whole business rather than a single individual.
Employees undergo training that is relevant to their roles, doesn’t require a formal qualification.
Creates competence awareness across the whole permitted operation, improving standards and efficiency.
Can be integrated with existing management systems such as ISO9001 and 14001, reducing costs and delivering whole business improvements.
Facilitates identification of skills gaps and assists in the development of operational consistency across different sites whilst demonstrating the organisation’s commitment to skills, employee development and competence.
Continuing competence is ongoing rather than scheduled every 2 years.
No calculation of attendance levels/site diary requirement.
What can EUSR Competence Management System (CMS) be used for?
Either to meet a specific condition in an environmental permit for an operator to comply with the requirements of an approved competence scheme or to meet the requirements of England and Wales: The Environmental Protection (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018 (SI 2008:1227) relating to Technical Competence. Scotland: The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”), Section 74(3)(b) of the 1990 Act deals with technical competence. Northern Ireland: Environmental Protection the Waste Management Licensing (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022. The CMS would need to be certified by an accredited Certification Body which Energy and Utility Skills has recognised as approved for the purposes of the scheme. The Standard specifies requirements for a competence management system to enable an organisation to demonstrate compliance in relation to technical competence of permitted sites. As such, the CMS can be used to develop process and policies covering any permitted activity or could be used as a base for demonstrating any competence requirements identified.
Which Regulator(s) recognises Competence Management System (CMS) for complying with the requirements of an approved competence scheme in environmental permits or waste management licences?
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for England and the Welsh Government, Northern Ireland by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) have approved the Energy and Utility Skills Competence Management System Private Standard to be used as a method for demonstrating technical competence to the regulators in England and Northern Ireland (Environment Agency), Wales (National Resources Wales) and also now in Scotland (Scottish Environment Protection Agency).
Where can I get a copy of the Competence Management System Private Standard?
Does the certification body have to be approved/ accredited?
Yes – the certification body is required to have achieved UKAS accreditation to ISO17021-1 (2015) specifically for the Competence Management System Private Standard and will then be recognised as Energy & Utility Skills approved for the purposes of the Scheme.
Can an Operator use an EMS (ISO14001) to cover the requirements of the CMS?
No – whilst they complement each other and can be audited by the same Certification Body the requirements are different for each standard and so must be certificated separately.
How long does certification from a certification body last for?
Certificates issued by approved certification bodies are valid for three years, surveillance visits are required every 12 months.
Is there a named technically competent manager per site?
No, however, a management representative should be available to deal with any issues that may have an impact on compliance with the conditions of a licence.
Is there a requirement to log site attendance time?
No, as it is a holistic approach, it does not rely on an individual spending a mandatory amount of time at site.
Are there specific training courses or qualifications that should be undertaken?
No, this is for each Operator to determine. It is recommended that training courses align to National Occupational Standards (NOS) or Industry standards, where available.
How can I check if an Operator’s Certificate is valid and current?
Each Certification Body has a process to enable the validity and scope of an Operator’s Certificate.
How long will the certification assessment take?
The certification body will have documented procedures for determining auditing time. Audit time will be organisation specific based on number of sites, number of permits, size of organisation and complexity of operation or environmental permit activities. The initial certification audit will be conducted in two stages, normally separated by approximately 3 months.
What happens if I fail the stage 2 audit, do not achieve certification, or have the certification to CMS removed?
The operator is required to satisfy the technical competence condition of the environmental permit or the requirements of England and Wales – The Environmental Protection (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018 (SI 2008:1227). Scotland – The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”), Section 74(3)(b) of the 1990 Act deals with technical competence. Thus, if the operator is unable to comply with a condition of their environmental permit, advice should be sought from the regulator.
What should the operator do when they receive their certificate from the certification body?
The certification body certificate should be provided to the regulator of the site (Environment Agency (England), National Resources Wales (Wales) and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Scotland). The operator should also add the certificate number to the Technical Competence tab as required on National Waste Returns.
Find out more
To find out more about Competence Management System please contact us by phone on 0121 745 1310 or email [email protected].
