Competence means "Can do". People who are assessors come and see what you can do. You demonstrate this by showing them the results of activities, minutes, presentations and other things that can be done at work.

Competences are those skills and attitudes that can be observed while carrying out tasks and activities that demonstrate knowledge and understanding. Taking a driving test is a good example of competence testing.

Health and Safety Regulation (Management of health and Safety at Work Regulation 6(1) requires that a "competent" person carries out the risk assessments.

ISO 14001 (Section 4.4.2) requires that where people are working with 'significant' environmental impacts, they shall be competent. The Environmental Practitioner Programme™ can provide the evidence to demonstrate these sorts of competencies.