What is VCA?
VCA stands for Veiligheid, gezondheid en milieu Checklist Aannemers: the Safety, Health and Environment Checklist for Contractors. It is a system that companies use to show that they work safely. If you work on a building site, in a factory or in technical services, your employer or client will often ask for a VCA diploma.
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What does VCA mean? Who needs the diploma? What is the exam like? How long is it valid? How to prepareWhat does VCA mean?
VCA started as a checklist for contractors: a list of requirements a company must meet to work safely. Companies that meet these requirements get a VCA certificate. One of the requirements is that workers know how to work safely. They show this with a personal VCA diploma.
The diploma shows that you know the most important safety rules. You know which risks there are at work, how to recognise them and what to do if something goes wrong. For example working with hazardous substances, working at height, machines with moving parts and using personal protective equipment.
Who needs the diploma?
There are two diplomas that are most common. B-VCA, Basic Safety VCA, is for workers who do the work on site themselves. VOL-VCA, Safety for Operational Supervisors, is for foremen, team leaders and site managers: they direct others and must also judge whether the work can continue safely.
There is also VIL-VCU, for recruitment consultants at employment agencies who place agency workers with VCA companies. That diploma is not about the work on site itself.
- B-VCA: workers on site, such as fitters, carpenters, welders, painters and production workers
- VOL-VCA: supervisors who also do the work themselves, such as foremen and site managers, and many self-employed people
- VIL-VCU: recruitment consultants at employment agencies
What is the exam like?
You take the exam at a recognised exam centre, usually on a computer. B-VCA has forty questions, VOL-VCA has sixty. For both you get sixty minutes, and you pass with 64.5 percent of the points or more. Many questions come with a drawing, sign or pictogram of a situation at work.
Not all questions are simple multiple choice. You also get questions with more than one correct answer, statements where you choose yes or no for each line, and questions where you match things or put them in the right order.
How long is it valid?
A VCA diploma is valid for ten years. After that, you take the exam again. Your diploma is registered, so an employer or client can check if it is still valid. Many employers keep track of when their workers' diplomas expire.
How to prepare
First, study the material, for example in a textbook or during a course. Then take practice exams under exam conditions: sixty minutes, without help. For every mistake, check why the answer was wrong. Do this a few times and you will know exactly which topics still need attention.
Is Dutch not your first language? Then practise in your own language. You can often take the exam in your own language too, and you understand the questions better if you learned the safety rules in your own language.
Ready to practise in your language?
