Certificate for working safely (VCA)
Do you work in high-risk places? Such as construction sites, factories, or industrial plant. Or in places where there is a risk of explosions, fire, or personal injury? If so, your client may ask to see your company’s Safety Checklist for Contractors (SCC) certificate (Veiligheid Checklist Aannemers, VCA).
What is an SCC certificate?
SCC is the abbreviation for Safety, Health and Environment Checklist Contractors. Veiligheid Checklist Aannemers, VCA in Dutch. With an SCC certificate, you show that you and your employees work safely and healthily within your business. Also when you work as a self-employed professional (zzp'er, freelancer).
A VCA certificate is not mandatory. But clients may ask for it because, for example, they consider it important that work is carried out safely. Or because they must comply with the duty of care (in Dutch). This means that, as the client, they must ensure that everyone is able to work safely. A VCA certificate can help show that work is being carried out according to the regulations.
Clients in the following industries often require an SCC certificate:
- (scaffolding) construction
- installation and (electrical) engineering, such as metalworking firms
- civil engineering, also known as road and hydraulic engineering
- transport
- (petro)chemical industry; businesses that produce or process chemical substances, such as medicines, plastics, or petroleum
Getting the VCA certificate
You get VCA certification for your business by following a number of steps:
- Determine what level of certification your business needs. For this, you can use the VCA guide (in Dutch) from the Foundation for Safety Cooperation (Stichting Samenwerken Voor Veiligheid, SSVV). SSVV is an alliance of 24 (industry) organisations and registers all SCC certifications.
- Check which safety, health and environmental requirements you already meet. Do you not yet meet all the requirements? Draw up an action plan. Use the SSVV step-by-step guide (in Dutch) for this.
- Submit a certification application to a recognised certification body. (in Dutch). This body assesses whether you meet all the requirements for an SCC certificate (audit).
Extending the SCC certificate
An SCC business certificate is valid for 3 years.The certification body checks every year whether you meet the requirements and whether you are working safely in practice. If you do not meet the requirements, you will need to make improvements in order to keep your certification.
After 3 years, you can renew your SCC certificate. To do so, you reapply for certification.
SCC certificate in other countries
Some countries accept a VCA certificate. Belgium also uses the SCC safety system. You can find more information in Dutch on the SSVV website