Frequently Asked Questions about Competency-Based Training and Assessment

1. DO I NEED TO HAVE CBTA?

CBTA is just another word for “function-specific” training which is already required in the US and in most countries.

2. IF WE ALREADY HAVE CBTA, WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?

The government of the United States has required this competency-based training (and assessment) for over two decades. ICAO and IATA also adopted this as an employer-based responsibility.  Only the employer knows the details of the employees job duties as it relates to DG/HazMat.

3. WHY DOES THIS SOUND LIKE SOMETHING NEW?

While the United States has had this training scheme for around 30 years, internationally, and through the airlines trade association (IATA) they didn’t always have the same thing. They had job “categories” training but it didn’t really focus on the needs of an individual employee.

4. WHO IS “IATA” AND CAN THEY MANDATE “CBTA”?

IATA is a voluntary, non-governmental, trade association that represents the interests of airline operators around the world.  They can ‘mandate’ CBTA as part of their voluntary membership requirements for the people operating aircraft (i.e. pilots, flight dispatchers, flight attendants), but that in itself doesn’t carry any legal authority.  The Competent Authority for the country does.

5. WHO IS THE LEGAL AUTHORITY?

Each country (called “states” in international parlance) has their own designated “Competent Authority” and government law-enforcement agents to enforce the regulations.  For example, in the U.S., the Competent Authority is the U.S. Department of Transportation and the main enforcement agency is the Federal Aviation Administration, also known as our “Civil Aviation Authority”. In Canada, it’s the CAA.

6. WILL THE AVIATION AUTHORITIES ENFORCE CBTA?

Again, it’s more an issue of semantics… what many are calling “CBTA” is again, another word for “function-specific training.” The CAA’s have always enforced this.  Some countries (i.e., the UK) require aviation training to be government approved.

7. WHY DOES CBTA SEEM SO COMPLICATED?

You may have seen intricate matrices of charts and job-categories along with competency-units, competency-elements, competency-assessments and so on.  This is a framework that IATA has built around CBTA.  It may be an appropriate tool for your company to use, but it’s up to you as the employer to decide – but it’s not legally required.

8. WHAT’S A SIMPLE EXPLANATION of CBTA?

• What DG’s do you ship or handle?
• Which employees work with those materials?
• What level of automation does your company have (that would reduce the amount of training needed)?
• What level of training do you think you need to ensure employees are fully competent to perform their DG/HazMat duties and ensure compliance?
• How do you assess their level of competency?
• Do you have an ongoing assessment system to ensure that once trained, they STAY competent?
• You don’t have to use a matrix, or any tool you find difficult – but you do have to ensure that each employee gets the appropriate amount of training at the right level, to ensure their full competency in handling DG shipments.

9. Who is the DGTA and Where Can I Get more Information on Competency-Based Training?

Our organization, the Dangerous Goods Trainers Association Inc., is an international non-profit NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that represents the Dangerous Goods training industry at the United Nations.  Our members are DG trainers from Europe, North America and around the world.  For more information visit www.dgta.org or one of our member companies. We were one of the first organizations to become involved in CBTA when it was presented at the UN.

DGTA United Nations Follow-Up CBTA Presentation 2018
DGTA United Nations CBTA Working Paper 2017