Quick answer. An OSHA competent person is one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards and has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them (1926.32(f)). OSHA does not certify competent persons; the employer chooses the person, and training, experience and that authority are what count. For excavations, the competent person classifies the soil with at least one visual and one manual test (Appendix A to Subpart P), inspects the excavation, the area around it and the protective system daily before work starts, as needed through the shift and after every rainstorm, and pulls workers out when there is evidence of a possible cave-in (1926.651(k)).
The definition, both halves
29 CFR 1926.32(f): a competent person is "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."
Read it as two tests, because inspectors do:
- Capable of identifying the hazards, existing and predictable. Knowledge and experience in that specific hazard: soil behavior for trenches, scaffold components and loads for scaffolds, anchorage and clearance for fall protection. "Capable" is proven by training, experience and the answers the person gives, not by a title.
- Authorized to take prompt corrective measures. The authority to stop the work, pull people out, order the box, spend the money, without calling the office first. A foreman who has to ask the owner before shutting down a trench is not a competent person, however much he knows.
The designation is per hazard, not per person. Someone can be the competent person for excavations and not for scaffolds. The question on an inspection is always "who is the competent person for this," pointing at the trench, the scaffold or the edge.
Competent, qualified, authorized, designated
| Term | Definition | Typical example |
|---|---|---|
| Competent person | Can identify the hazards and has the authority to fix them. 1926.32(f). | The foreman running the trench crew, inspecting it every morning. |
| Qualified person | Has a recognized degree, certificate or professional standing, or extensive knowledge, training and experience, and has demonstrated the ability to solve problems in the subject. 1926.32(m). | The engineer who designs the shoring for a 22-foot excavation; the person who designs a horizontal lifeline. |
| Authorized employee | A person who locks out a machine to service it, trained under the lockout standard. 1910.147(b). | The mechanic with the lock. |
| Designated person | Selected or assigned by the employer as being competent to perform specific duties. Used in the crane, rigging and several general industry standards. | The person designated to inspect rigging before each shift. |
The ranking people assume (qualified above competent) is not how the rules use the words. They are different jobs. The qualified person designs the system; the competent person makes sure it is built and used right every day and stops the work when it isn't. On a job with one crew, one person is often both, which is fine, as long as they actually meet both definitions.
Where 1926 requires one
The construction standards use the term more than a hundred times. These are the ones that come up on almost every job, with what the competent person is actually responsible for:
| Standard | Where | What the competent person does |
|---|---|---|
| 1926.20(b)(2) | Every job | Frequent and regular inspections of the site, materials and equipment. This is the general one; it applies before any of the others. |
| 1926.651(k), 1926.652, Appendix A | Excavations | Daily inspections before work and as needed through the shift, after rain and after anything that changes the ground. Classifies the soil by at least one visual and one manual test. Picks the protective system. Pulls people out when there is evidence of a problem. |
| 1926.451(f)(3), (f)(7), 1926.454 | Scaffolds | Inspects every scaffold before each shift and after anything that could affect it. Supervises erection, moving and dismantling. Trains the erectors. |
| 1926.502(d)(19), 1926.502(k), 1926.503 | Fall protection | Inspects personal fall arrest equipment after a fall and oversees its removal. Supervises the fall protection plan where one is used. Trains the workers (the trainer has to be qualified in the subject). |
| 1926.1053(b)(15) | Ladders | Periodic inspections for visible defects and after anything that could affect safe use. |
| 1926.251(a)(1), (a)(6) | Rigging | Inspects slings and rigging before each shift and during use where conditions warrant. |
| 1926.1404, 1926.1412 | Cranes | Assembly and disassembly under an A/D director who is both competent and qualified. Shift and monthly inspections by a competent person; annual by a qualified person. |
| 1926.753(c)(1), 1926.760(e) | Steel erection | Pre-shift visual inspection of the crane. Fall protection left in place for other trades is inspected and accepted by the controlling contractor. |
| 1926.850(a) | Demolition | The engineering survey of the structure before work starts. |
| 1926.1203(a) | Confined spaces | Identifies the confined spaces on the site and which are permit-required, before work begins. |
| 1926.1153(g)(4) | Silica | Implements the written exposure control plan on site: inspects the work, the controls and the housekeeping. |
| 1926.404(b)(1)(iii) | Temporary electrical | Runs the assured equipment grounding conductor program, where that is used instead of GFCIs. |
| 1926.552(c)(15) | Personnel hoists | Periodic inspections and tests. |
| 1926.1101, 1926.62 | Asbestos and lead | Each has its own competent person with specific training and inspection duties. |
General contractors and owners add their own: most prequalification systems ask for the name of the competent person for each hazard on the project, and the Army Corps' EM 385-1-1 requires them by name on the Activity Hazard Analysis.
General industry: different words, same idea
Part 1910 rarely says "competent person." It assigns the same two halves, knowledge and authority, under other names: the qualified person who trains workers about fall hazards (1910.30) and supervises anchorage design (1910.140), the qualified person for electrical work (1910.333), the program administrator who runs the respirator program (1910.134(c)(3)), the entry supervisor for confined spaces (1910.146), the authorized employee for lockout (1910.147), the designated person who inspects slings (1910.184) and cranes (1910.179), and the person with the knowledge, training and experience to train and evaluate forklift operators (1910.178(l)(2)(iii)). If you run a shop or plant, your designation letters use those titles, and the rest of this guide applies to them the same way.
How to designate one in writing
Nothing in the rule requires the designation to be in writing. Everything about an inspection, a GC prequal and a lawsuit does. One page per person per hazard, signed by the owner or whoever runs the company, acknowledged by the person named:
- Name and scope. "Marcus Hill is designated the competent person for excavation and trenching on all company projects." One hazard per letter, or one letter listing each hazard separately.
- The duties, in the words of the standard. For excavation: daily inspections before each shift and as needed, soil classification, selection of the protective system, inspection after rain or changes, removal of employees when there is evidence of a hazard. Copy them from the rule so there is no argument about what the job was.
- The authority, spelled out. "Has the authority to stop work, remove employees from the excavation, order protective systems and equipment, and spend company funds to correct hazards, without prior approval." That sentence is the second half of the definition. Without it the letter is a job description.
- The basis. The training (course, provider, date, hours) and the experience (years, kinds of work) that make this person capable. Attach the certificates.
- Coverage. Which sites and shifts, and who covers when this person is absent. If the crew works nights, the night foreman needs his own letter.
- Signatures and date. The company's and the person's. Review it when the standard changes, when the person's role changes, and at least yearly.
Then tell the crew. The JHA, the daily inspection form and the pre-task plan should name the competent person for the work on that page, so everyone on site knows who to go to and who can stop the job.
What the competent person actually does: a trench day
The clearest example, because the rule spells it out. Before the crew enters:
- Walks the excavation and the area around it: tension cracks, sloughing, water, undermined pavement, spoil pile distance (2 feet minimum), surcharge loads from equipment and materials, adjacent structures.
- Classifies the soil, with at least one visual test (what the cut face looks like, layering, water, previous disturbance) and one manual test (thumb penetration, pocket penetrometer, plasticity). Previously disturbed soil is at best Type B. If there is any doubt, it is Type C.
- Checks the protective system against the soil and depth: slope angle, shoring, or the trench box's tabulated data, with the box extending at least 18 inches above any vertical cut it is combined with.
- Confirms access: a ladder within 25 feet of every worker in a trench 4 feet or deeper, extending 3 feet above the edge, secured.
- Tests the atmosphere where a hazardous one could exist, in an excavation deeper than 4 feet (near sewers, landfills, fuel storage, gas lines).
- Checks utilities are marked and exposed by hand digging where the work crosses them.
- Writes it down: date, time, conditions, soil type, protective system, findings, signature. Again after rain, after a vibration source starts, after any change, and any time through the shift conditions warrant.
And through the day, this person is on the site. Not on the phone from another job. The excavation standard's inspections are "prior to the start of work and as needed throughout the shift," which cannot be done from across town.
Training and what proves it
OSHA does not set a number of hours or name a course for competent persons, except in the asbestos and lead standards. Typical competent person classes run 8 to 16 hours for excavation, scaffolds or fall protection, and an OSHA 30-hour card is general background, not a competent person credential. What proves the first half of the definition is the combination: training in the hazard, experience doing the work, and the ability to answer, on site, the questions the standard raises. An inspector who asks your excavation competent person what soil type the trench is in, how he knows, and what the box is rated for will decide in two minutes whether the designation is real.
Refresh the training when the standard changes, when the equipment changes, and whenever an inspection or an incident shows a gap. Keep the certificates with the designation letter, and keep both for as long as the person holds the role plus the life of the projects they covered.
Mistakes that undo the designation
- The owner is the competent person for everything and is never on site.
- "All our foremen are competent persons" with no training, no letter and no one who can explain soil types.
- A competent person with no authority to stop work or spend money. The letter says it; the owner's behavior on the last job said otherwise.
- One competent person for four sites running at once.
- A class certificate with no experience behind it, for a hazard the person has never worked around.
- The competent person's name on nothing: not the JHA, not the inspection form, not the pre-task plan.
- No coverage for the second shift, vacations or the day the foreman is at the doctor.
- Designated for excavation in 2021 and never retrained after the crew switched from sloping to hydraulic shoring.
Competent person records the crew can see
In 29Safety each worker's training card lists the hazards they are designated for, with the certificates attached and an expiry alert. The JHA won't finish until a designated competent person is named for the kinds of work it covers, and the daily inspection form carries that name onto every page.
See exactly what you'd get
The JHA plus a toolbox talk record, an inspection and more, in one PDF: five documents for a jobsite crew, or three for a plant. No watermark.
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Rather have us write it? Two written programs ($295)
Questions we get
Is there an OSHA competent person certification?
No. OSHA does not certify competent persons, and no card from a training company makes someone one. The employer designates a competent person based on training, experience and the authority given to them. Classes help prove the first part; the designation letter proves the second.
Can a foreman be the competent person?
Usually the foreman is the right choice, because the competent person has to be on site when the work happens and has to be able to stop it. The foreman needs training in the specific hazard, real experience with it, and written authority from the company to stop work and spend money to fix hazards.
Does the competent person have to be on site all the time?
They have to be there when the duties happen: before each shift for trench and scaffold inspections, through the shift as conditions change, during scaffold erection and dismantling, during crane assembly. For excavation work that means on site all day. A competent person covering several sites at once is one of the most common findings in a trench fatality investigation.
Can one person be the competent person for everything?
On a job with one crew, one well-trained foreman can be the competent person for excavation, ladders, rigging and fall protection, if they really know each hazard. Each one needs its own training and its own line in the designation letter. Cranes, asbestos and lead have their own specific requirements and usually need specialists.
What is the difference between a competent person and a qualified person?
A competent person can recognize the hazards and has the authority to correct them (29 CFR 1926.32(f)). A qualified person has a degree, certificate or extensive knowledge, training and experience, and can solve problems in the subject (1926.32(m)). The qualified person designs the shoring or the lifeline; the competent person inspects it every day and stops the work when it is wrong. One person can be both.
What does a competent person designation letter need?
The person's name, the specific hazard or hazards, the duties copied from the standard, a clear statement of authority to stop work and correct hazards without prior approval, the training and experience that qualify them with certificates attached, which sites and shifts they cover and who covers when they are out, and signatures from the company and the person. Review it yearly and when anything changes.
What does an excavation competent person do?
Classifies the soil as Type A, B or C with at least one visual and one manual test (Appendix A to Subpart P); inspects the excavation, the adjacent areas and the protective systems daily before work, as needed through the shift, and after every rainstorm or other hazard-increasing event (1926.651(k)(1)); removes exposed workers when there is evidence of a possible cave-in, a failing protective system or a hazardous atmosphere (1926.651(k)(2)); and decides whether a trench under 5 feet needs protection (1926.652(a)(1)(ii)). The trench day section above walks through it.
What is a competent person report?
OSHA has no form by that name. It usually means the written record of a competent person's inspection. Subpart P requires the daily excavation inspection (1926.651(k)) but does not say it has to be written; many general contractors require it anyway, because it is the only proof the inspection happened. Some standards do require the paper: the monthly crane inspection by a competent person is documented with the items checked, the results, the inspector's name and signature and the date, and kept at least three months (1926.1412(e)(3)). A good daily report has the date and time, the location, the soil type and how it was classified, the protective system, what was found, what was fixed, and the competent person's name and signature.
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