Everything you need to know about VCA (Labour Protection)

What is the VCA certificate?

The VCA qualification (SCC in English or German) means knowledge of the requirements of occupational safety and protection. The term VCA comes from the Dutch: VGM Checklist voor Aannemers (Safety, Health and Environment Checklist for Contractors).

This certificate is mainly required in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, but can also be requested in other countries such as Germany, Austria and Sweden.

The fields in which a VCA certificate is required to work are: electrical, construction, transport, shipbuilding, heavy industry, petrochemical and electromechanical.

The VCA certificate can be obtained through a grid-type examination, available in several languages, in approved centres.

VCA training, exams and diplomas

All employees and operational managers of a VCA-certified company must be able to prove that they have the necessary safety knowledge by means of a VCA diploma.

For employees, this is the Basic security VCA (B-VCA) qualification. The course is aimed at acquiring general knowledge of welfare in the workplace.

There are no rules for following the course, which means that everything is possible: from self-study to training in a specialised centre, through internal company training provided by the prevention adviser or other expert.

Accent offers various tools, such as an official training manual, online training programmes (e-learning) and mock exams. At the end of the training you have to pass an exam in an authorised examination centre to obtain the VCA diploma. The diploma is valid for 10 years.