In Mexico, there is widespread confusion about the value of the DC-3 (“Constancia de Competencias o de Habilidades Laborales”), the certificate companies use to show that an employee has completed a training activity or competency exam. An article by Prevencionar México sets out what this document does and does not guarantee.
No direct endorsement from the regulator
The DC-3 is not, by itself, a certification issued by the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS), Mexico’s labour authority. The document records the employee’s name and job title, the company name, the course name and duration, the subject matter, and the instructor’s details. Both internal company instructors and STPS-registered external training providers (Agentes Capacitadores Externos) may issue the certificate.
Registration of an external training provider with the STPS explicitly does not mean the regulator certifies or endorses the instructor’s own knowledge, the article stresses. Holding a DC-3 is therefore no guarantee that a company complies with Mexico’s official safety standards (NOMs).
Relevance for EHS professionals
The article’s core message applies broadly, worldwide: a training certificate is, in virtually any jurisdiction, documentary evidence, not a substitute for a complete safety programme. Effective training requires that risks match the actual job duties, includes a theoretical and practical component where regulations require it, and verifies that competency has genuinely been acquired — not merely that an administrative step has been ticked off.
Source: Capacitación en seguridad y salud en el trabajo: qué acredita realmente la constancia DC-3, 16 September 2026
