|
OSHA COMPETENT PERSON REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSTRUCTION
Who is a Competent Person? A Competent Person is someone who, through training and/or experience, is knowledgeable of the various Occupational Safety & Heath Administration (OSHA) standards that apply to their workplace, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to their specific operations, and has the authority invested in him or her by their employer to correct the hazards to protect workers.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of Employers, and not OSHA, to determine who is the Competent Person(s) for their particular construction sites.
In the OSHA construction standards (see 29 CFR 1926.32(f)), the generic definition of a Competent Person is stated as "one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them".
Therefore, it is entirely possible for a person to be designated by their employer as the Competent Person for only one particular aspect of the job (example: excavation work, fall protection and fall arrest systems, or scaffolding), but not for another area with totally different hazards that are regulated by an OSHA standard with which they are not familiar. Or, it's possible a person may possess the experience and training necessary to allow them to be designated by their employer as the Competent Person for every aspect of the entire jobsite.
There is no single OSHA construction standard that establishes all of the specific responsibilities of a “Competent Person”. Instead, there are numerous references to a Competent Person that appears in the various OSHA construction standards. To view a list of these standards, click here. State plan OSHA programs like Cal-OSHA in California have the same general competent person requirements in their construction safety orders. There are also some links appearing below for some training courses offered for educating the Competent Person.
Some of the OSHA construction standards (e.g.: OSHA excavation standards & scaffolding standards) list some very specific requirements for additional activities, such as daily inspections, to be performed by the Competent Person, while other construction standards only make a passing reference to the Competent Person. The Competent Person is also referred to in various preambles to final OSHA rules (background to final rules), OSHA directives (instructions for compliance officers), and standard interpretations (official letters of interpretation of the standards generated by OSHA).
CLICK HERE for links to all of the OSHA Standards (general industry, shipyards, and construction) that specifically refer to a Competent Person
CLICK HERE for information about an OSHA Excavation Competent Person Training Class
CLICK HERE for information about the OSHA 10-hour Construction Outreach Training Course
CLICK HERE for information about the OSHA 30-hour Construction Outreach Training Course
CLICK HERE to Ask Us a Question or Request a Training Proposal, and for additional OSHA Training Links and Web Sites
|
|
