INTERNATIONAL LIFE SAVING FEDERATION
Gemeenteplein 26 – 3010 Leuven – Belgium
Tel: +32/(0)16-89.60.60 – E-mail: ils.hq@telenet.be - Web: www.ilsf.org

LIFESAVING POSITION STATEMENT – LPS 21
COMPETENCYPLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY
Competency is demonstrated when an individual can consistently apply their skills and knowledge to astandard set by the workplace. It includes the ability to transfer and apply these skills and knowledge tonew situations and environments. All lifeguards need to be competent in every aspect of the taughtcurriculum prior to being unsupervised.
BACKGROUND
To successfully design programs of instruction which will allow people to accomplish specified tasks inany field of endeavor we must first define competency. That is, we must define what it means to becompetent. Lifeguarding qualifications endorsed through the International Life Saving Federation havebeen developed based on the application of a competency-based format to maximize the relevance tomember organizations throughout the world.1
In a general sense competency is a combination of attributes underlying some aspect of successfulprofessional performance2 through achievement of a specific outcome. A person who is described orrecognized as being competent has the attributes to enable them to perform tasks and skills to an
appropriate pre-determined standard.
The objective is to ensure the focus on an individual becoming able to consistently apply their skills andknowledge effectively in a vocational application (be it voluntary or paid) or in the case of ILS member
to satisfy the standards that have been developed through expert consensus and/or research in thefield.
From a vocational perspective competency-based training systems have been adopted through theestablishment of national Qualifications Frameworks3 in forty-seven countries since the latter part of theTwentieth Century with many adopting such frameworks in Europe since the outcomes of the Bologna
Process in 1999.4
STATEMENT
1. Competency is achieved when an individual can consistently demonstrate specified levels ofskill, knowledge, and understanding. It involves both the ability to perform in a range ofapplications or context; and the capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new tasks andsituations.
2. The International Lifesaving Federation strongly recommends that all rescue organizations
involved in the training of lifeguards, first responders and the lay public should use the definitionand nomenclature (terms) as agreed upon by the international community as a basis for usefulcommunication and include it in their glossary.
3. All lifeguards should be able to demonstrate competency in all aspects of the taught curriculum
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
This document is based on expert consensus as noted above and through the reference to the literature
listed below.

International Life Saving FederationLifesaving Position Statement – MPS-21. Definition of Competency

Page 2DISCUSSION
The principal purpose of the recommendations are to establish consistency in the development ofcompetency based qualifications (i.e. training and assessment) for the benefit of ILS members, both interms of nomenclature and as guidelines for any recognition of prior learning (RPL) that may beincorporated into training plans and/or activities. These recommendations are intended to improve theclarity of training and qualification. Improved clarity and comparability of future training will advance thedevelopment of lifeguarding competencies knowledge base throughout member organizations.
It is essential that the minimum requirements as set out on the ILS website in relation to lifeguard training
be followed and that lifeguards demonstrate competency in all elements of that training, that is, bedeemed competent in all assessable criteria.
Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA)
EPA is a unit of professional practice, defined as a task or responsibility that a trainee is entrusted toperform unsupervised once he/she has attained sufficient competence in the activity. EPAs are contextdependent and have its basis in competence-based learning. Lifeguard training organisations shouldmake sure that lifeguards that they have deemed competent, can perform that activity unsupervised
before competency is awarded.
Certain elements such as fitness, ability to perform a rescue in the environment that the lifeguard
operates within, and CPR must be recertified (deemed competent) on a regular basis (Refer Lifesaving
Position Statement LPS-09 “Recertification for Beach and Open Water Lifeguards”).
POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT:The author has no conflict of interest with the stakeholder industry, technology, persons or organizations
that are identified and/or impacted by the position statement.
REFERENCES
The following references were consulted and reviewed in preparation of this document.
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International Lifesaving Federation, 2019, ILS International Certificates, https://www.ilsf.org/certification/
Lester, S & Jolanta, R 2017, 'Competence” and occupational standards: observations from six European countries',
Education + Training, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 201-14.
George P, Brons R, (section editors). Rescue: organisational aspects - planning, training and preparations, In: Bierens J(editor). Drowning: Prevention, Rescue, Treatment 2nd edition. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag 2014: part V, p.
275-388.
Reinalda, R. 2008, The Bologna Process and its achievements in Europe 1999–2007. Journal of Political Science
Education, 4(4): 463-476. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15512160802414012
Charles, W 1993, 'What Is Meant by a Competency?', Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 14, no. 1, pp.
29-36.
Australian Industry and Skills Committee, 2017, <https://www.aisc.net.au/content/about-aisc>.
Billett, S 2016, 'Beyond competence: an essay on a process approach to organising and enacting vocational education',International Journal of Training Research, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 197-214.
Brockmann, M, Clarke, L, Méhaut, P & Winch, C 2008, 'Competence-Based Vocational Education and Training (VET): theCases of England and France in a European Perspective', Vocations and Learning, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 227-44.
Cassidy, H 2017, 'Task Variation Within Occupations', Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, vol. 56, no.
3, pp. 393-410.
Nicoll, K, Katherine, N & Henning Salling, O 2013, 'Editorial: What’s new in a new competence regime?', European journalfor research on the education and learning of adults, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 103-9.
Ertl, H 2002, 'The Concept of Modularisation in Vocational Education and Training: The Debate in Germany and Its
Implications', Oxford Review of Education, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 53-73.

APPROVAL
Approved by ILS Education Committee and ILS Rescue Commission December 2021