399 workers from El Cerrejón will be receiving the Labour Competency Certificate

Bogotá, D.C., 1 February 2006. - Three hundred and ninety nine workers linked to the largest open-pit coal mine in the world will receive a certificate that accredits the quality of their work performance.

They are 249 workers who work directly for El Cerrajón and other 150 workers of the contractor firm Empresa Mecánicos Asociados S.A., who will be receiving the Labour Competency Certificate this Friday at 3 pm because they have showed that they are competent and that they add quality to their job.

These workers, some of whom will be receiving the first degree in their whole working life, are employed in different areas such as Mining, Welding and Manufacturing and Reconstruction of Metal Products.

In order to obtain the certificate, they had to undergo strict knowledge and work performance tests set by instructors and the staff of SENA in Atlántico and Guajira.

Certification: a trend in enterprises

In addition to these 399 workers of El Cerrajón, SENA had given twenty-three thousand eight hundred and sixty certificates on labour competence the previous year to workers linked to enterprises of 22 Colombian economic sectors.

This was informed by the entity's Director General Mr. Darío Montoya Mejía during the presentation of the review on the work done by the institution together with entrepreneurs in order to certify labour competencies in their human resources.

Labour competency certificates were granted by SENA to workers of gas companies, drinking water and basic sewage, coffee, tourism, metalworking, health, telecommunications, construction, banana, leather, footwear and leather goods, textiles and clothing, among other economic sectors.

Of the 23,870 certifications, 9,000 were granted to workers in Bogotá; 7,900 in Antioquia; 5,600 in Valle; 4,500 in Santander; 2,800 in Cundinamarca; 2, 799 in Caldas; 2,264 in Bolívar; 1,100 in Córdoba; 300 in Sucre and the rest in other Departments of Colombia.

The labour competency certificate guarantees that the person showed that he or she is competent in their job, that he or she carries out their duties according to the quality standards defined and required by the productive sector and that he or she has the necessary knowledge, abilities and skills to perform adequately and with quality, regardless of how, when or where he or she acquired such competencies.

Compulsory certification

According to Provision 31981 of the Industry and Commerce Supervisory Agency, all natural persons who perform activities of construction, enlargement, reform, revision or certification of home gas networks are required to have a labour competency certificate.
Likewise, Provision 1570 of Minambiente (Ministry of Environment) requires that the workers employed by Drinking Waters and Basic and Environmental Sewage are certified.
The aim here is to try to ensure quality in services and safety for users.

Assessors training

As a part of the strategy of consolidating a System of Assessment and Certification of Labour Competencies in the country, SENA trained 4,467 Assessors last year. They will be in charge of assessing knowledge, abilities, skills, aptitudes and attitudes of workers inside enterprises and verify that they match the quality standards required by Labour Competency Standards, as the previous step to obtaining the corresponding competency certificate.
In the same way, SENA trained 49 auditors (making up a total number of 325 across the country) responsible for verifying the transparency and quality of the processes of assessment and certification of workers.

SENA internationalises model

Fifty Peruvian obstetricians were trained by SENA as labour competency assessors in order to assess the knowledge, abilities and skills of other professionals that assist pregnant women and care for the good health of newborns.

The training as labour competency assessors received by these health professionals was advanced within the framework of an agreement signed between SENA and Sinadepro - Peruvian body responsible for controlling the quality of services and validating the professional knowledge of graduates from different universities in the country.

Additionally, it is planned that SENA will be training other health professionals coming from other economic sectors of the Andean countries as labour competency assessors.

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